Re:Ask HN: Is it worth it to move to London as a SWE?
by pc86 on Wednesday January 08, 2020 @09:55AM
(#21991940)
> £100k ($130k) is not unrealistic.
Yet I work in a a medium-to-low COL area of the US and make more than that. My area is in the high 80's while NYC is 162 and SF is 206.
It's hard to argue in favor of being a SWE in London if being a SWE in the US is a possibility in any locale.
It's certainly harder than in, say, SF, but by no means impossible. Google and Facebook between them have thousands of engineers in London and are growing fast. They're not paying as much as the US, but are by no means stingy. £100k ($130k) is not unrealistic.
If you want some anecdotal data, I transferred from the Bay Area to London and my base salary decreased about 25%. But then again, a nice one-bed apartment in London can easily be easily found for $2k...try finding that in SF.