1. GitLab (as with most other companies with geo-dependent comp) pays based on Cost of Labor--not Cost of Living. So if a market has crazy-expensive real estate but salaries haven't caught up (somewhere like Vancouver), you're out of luck.
2. GitLab is NOT encouraging team members to relocate to HCOL areas at all. In fact, while they encourage hiring in LCOL areas (there are target "location factors" for teams, so there's a bias toward hiring in lower-cost areas), the Handbook ( https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/people-group/relocation... ) states that "Relocations resulting in an increase in compensation must be approved by the team member’s direct manager, and location factor changes that are >.2 will require direct manager, VP as well as an eGroup Member approval."
TL;DR -- don't get hired in Iowa an expect to bounce to SF right away.
Is it? Are you better off if you earn more but live in a high cost of living area? I hear about people working in SF for the big tech companies but living from a car because they can't afford to live there.