At least at places I've worked, there isn't really that distinction though. There's not one of type of engineer that does "standard crud jobs" (whatever that would mean) and another type that designs/scales systems or whatever. Instead, companies seem to prefer to hire generalists who can (theoretically) do either job, even if that means salaries might theoretically be higher. In other words, candidates for engineering positions all go through the same hiring pipeline, with small variations for front-end vs back-end, etc. I think as engineers, we should prefer this, because it gives us greater flexibility in our careers and greater room for growth.

My point I was trying to make is probably such an outlier that it is hyperbole. So you are probably right.

I would guess John Carmack would get paid the same whether he lived in a small hut in Estonia or if he lived in SF. I don't think thats true for the person building a web app for a local company to sell knitted socks.