Silicon Valley Salary vs cost of living

[Bearded Man]

I recently read an article that basically showed that most of the SC valley Senior Engineers spend around half of their pay on housing. Wow. Also, this article here shows that you can really get the same standard of living in other parts of the country for a fraction of the pay. Maybe where you live is more important than how much money you make:

http://www.businessinsider.com/silicon-valley-salaries-2011-8

[Alex321]

It's definitely a key factor to consider.

[Another Reader]

Looks like that article was written in 2011.  Things have gotten a lot more expensive since then.

[Cranberries]

People always seem to be hiring in my field (not computer related)in that area. They tend to offer ~$3 an hour more then other places.. I have not applied.

[iamlindoro]

I'm a senior engineer in the Bay Area.

I think it's important to consider the psychology of the Bay Area when you look at averages of both salary and cost of living.  The culture is an incredibly dysfunctional one when it comes to money.  The majority of engineers spend their salary as though a major IPO or acquisition is right around the corner, because that is the narrative that many companies push. 

A majority of my peers have a massive cost of living- they drive $100,000 cars, they live in luxury homes and apartments, and the general feeling is that everyone "deserves" this because they "work hard."  In other words, it's the same wasteful spending of the rest of the country, but on steroids and enabled by large salaries.

It is very, very possible to have a wonderful quality of life at a very low cost.  I do spend about half of the money I spend on housing, because I bought a condo at the height of the market and have spent years getting back to break-even... but I had lunch with someone today whose housing cost (renting a HOUSE, mind you) is a fraction of my own, under $1000 per month.

What's more, I make somewhere in the range seen on that infographic, and I save over 50% of it (a majority of that tax-deferred because I am a consultant, so it all goes into my individual 401k as employer + employee).  Raw dollars matter.  I don't think there's anywhere with a modest cost of living that I could go, do the same job, and save 70-90K a year.

TL;DR: If the goal is to make as much money as possible, as fast as possible, then be able to GTFO, the valley can't be beat.

[Bearded Man]

I'm a senior engineer in the Bay Area.

I think it's important to consider the psychology of the Bay Area when you look at averages of both salary and cost of living.  The culture is an incredibly dysfunctional one when it comes to money.  The majority of engineers spend their salary as though a major IPO or acquisition is right around the corner, because that is the narrative that many companies push. 

A majority of my peers have a massive cost of living- they drive $100,000 cars, they live in luxury homes and apartments, and the general feeling is that everyone "deserves" this because they "work hard."  In other words, it's the same wasteful spending of the rest of the country, but on steroids and enabled by large salaries.

It is very, very possible to have a wonderful quality of life at a very low cost.  I do spend about half of the money I spend on housing, because I bought a condo at the height of the market and have spent years getting back to break-even... but I had lunch with someone today whose housing cost (renting a HOUSE, mind you) is a fraction of my own, under $1000 per month.

What's more, I make somewhere in the range seen on that infographic, and I save over 50% of it (a majority of that tax-deferred because I am a consultant, so it all goes into my individual 401k as employer + employee).  Raw dollars matter.  I don't think there's anywhere with a modest cost of living that I could go, do the same job, and save 70-90K a year.

TL;DR: If the goal is to make as much money as possible, as fast as possible, then be able to GTFO, the valley can't be beat.

It sounds like you clear over 200K, am I right? You sound like an outlier for the area. Plus, as a contractor, you get a premium over an FTE position.

Also, I save about 90K a year and live in the greater Seattle area. Not exactly a modest cost of living if you live in King County near Seattle, but in the surrounding areas you can still get a reasonable house for 175K. One hour commute to Seattle by bus, 45 minutes by car.

[iamlindoro]

It sounds like you clear over 200K, am I right? You sound like an outlier for the area. Plus, as a contractor, you get a premium over an FTE position.

No,  I make a number smaller than most of the "outliers" on the page (but not all of them).  Companies budget 30-50% over their offered salary for benefits, taxes, unemployment insurance, and payroll costs.  I consider the W2 salary for a given job when accepting it, then increase it by 20-30% so that everyone wins in the situation.  I am obliged to pay my own benefits, insurance, and taxes.  Because I pay for fewer benefits than these companies do, this situation allows me to make a little more.  The big deal is that it gives me access to using an individual 401k, where I can tax-defer up to 53K a year.

Edit to Add: The 125K mentioned for Twitter would certainly be an outlier for overall salaries, but it would be very average for software developers.  Guys out of school with no experience can very easily find $100K jobs even at small companies.

One more edit to add: I see that the data is all 2011 or earlier-- that explains why the numbers at the "premier" companies seem so low.  An Apple senior SWE makes WAY more than 140K.

[Retired To Win]

I'm a senior engineer in the Bay Area... I make somewhere in the range seen on that infographic, and I save over 50% of it...  Raw dollars matter.  I don't think there's anywhere with a modest cost of living that I could go, do the same job, and save 70-90K a year... If the goal is to make as much money as possible, as fast as possible, then be able to GTFO, the valley can't be beat.

That's the winning strategy right there.  Put up / maneuver around the high cost of living in order to be able to save LOTS of money faster.  BUT always have as the end game getting the hell out of that HCOLA and FIREing to a reasonable cost of living area where that stash will really count!

[big_slacker]

I'm a senior engineer in the Bay Area.

I think it's important to consider the psychology of the Bay Area when you look at averages of both salary and cost of living.  The culture is an incredibly dysfunctional one when it comes to money.  The majority of engineers spend their salary as though a major IPO or acquisition is right around the corner, because that is the narrative that many companies push. 

A majority of my peers have a massive cost of living- they drive $100,000 cars, they live in luxury homes and apartments, and the general feeling is that everyone "deserves" this because they "work hard."  In other words, it's the same wasteful spending of the rest of the country, but on steroids and enabled by large salaries.

It is very, very possible to have a wonderful quality of life at a very low cost.  I do spend about half of the money I spend on housing, because I bought a condo at the height of the market and have spent years getting back to break-even... but I had lunch with someone today whose housing cost (renting a HOUSE, mind you) is a fraction of my own, under $1000 per month.

What's more, I make somewhere in the range seen on that infographic, and I save over 50% of it (a majority of that tax-deferred because I am a consultant, so it all goes into my individual 401k as employer + employee).  Raw dollars matter.  I don't think there's anywhere with a modest cost of living that I could go, do the same job, and save 70-90K a year.

TL;DR: If the goal is to make as much money as possible, as fast as possible, then be able to GTFO, the valley can't be beat.

It sounds like you clear over 200K, am I right? You sound like an outlier for the area. Plus, as a contractor, you get a premium over an FTE position.

Also, I save about 90K a year and live in the greater Seattle area. Not exactly a modest cost of living if you live in King County near Seattle, but in the surrounding areas you can still get a reasonable house for 175K. One hour commute to Seattle by bus, 45 minutes by car.

I had offers in both the Seattle area and Bay area when we were deciding which tech city to move to. I'll agree that raw $$ matter but so do taxes and COL. The housing cost was prohibitive in the bay, and the high income tax was a kick in the nuts as well. 150k base for sr engineers up here vs 180k there. But at least by my calc we have more in the bank without extreme cost cutting here, so north we went.

The culture is similar here though, especially on the eastside where I live. Lots of teslas and other toys in the parking lots. Lots of overpriced high and midrise condos. My wife and I talk about it looking more and more california every day up here.

[Vilgan]

What's more, I make somewhere in the range seen on that infographic, and I save over 50% of it (a majority of that tax-deferred because I am a consultant, so it all goes into my individual 401k as employer + employee).  Raw dollars matter.  I don't think there's anywhere with a modest cost of living that I could go, do the same job, and save 70-90K a year.

TL;DR: If the goal is to make as much money as possible, as fast as possible, then be able to GTFO, the valley can't be beat.

I strongly disagree once you make consulting a possibility. For W-2 salaries, most companies try to keep them roughly market rate for their area with google going a bit higher. However, once you no longer need to be an employee on a w-2, how much money you can make gets very very flexible and even companies in podunk parts of the country can pay $150/hour and higher.

[mm1970]

I'm a senior engineer in the Bay Area.

I think it's important to consider the psychology of the Bay Area when you look at averages of both salary and cost of living.  The culture is an incredibly dysfunctional one when it comes to money.  The majority of engineers spend their salary as though a major IPO or acquisition is right around the corner, because that is the narrative that many companies push. 

A majority of my peers have a massive cost of living- they drive $100,000 cars, they live in luxury homes and apartments, and the general feeling is that everyone "deserves" this because they "work hard."  In other words, it's the same wasteful spending of the rest of the country, but on steroids and enabled by large salaries.

It is very, very possible to have a wonderful quality of life at a very low cost.  I do spend about half of the money I spend on housing, because I bought a condo at the height of the market and have spent years getting back to break-even... but I had lunch with someone today whose housing cost (renting a HOUSE, mind you) is a fraction of my own, under $1000 per month.

What's more, I make somewhere in the range seen on that infographic, and I save over 50% of it (a majority of that tax-deferred because I am a consultant, so it all goes into my individual 401k as employer + employee).  Raw dollars matter.  I don't think there's anywhere with a modest cost of living that I could go, do the same job, and save 70-90K a year.

TL;DR: If the goal is to make as much money as possible, as fast as possible, then be able to GTFO, the valley can't be beat.

Yeah housing in the bay will kill you I think. I have numerous friends up there (I'm in Santa Barbara).  My friends aren't quite so spendy on cars, maybe moreso on their kids.  I've got friends in Mtn View who bought long enough ago that their house was only $680k.  The good thing though is that during the downturn, the guy was out of work for about 1.5 years, but they still made it work because the woman was still employed.

I occasionally think about it, because even in my industry (semiconductors) pay is a lot higher.  I estimate 70% based on surveys of friends who have made the move.  Then there's my husband, who could make even more.  But eh, the craziness of the Bay Area reminds me a bit of the craziness of the DC area, and I really don't want to go back to that, you know?

OTOH, SB is such a small town, hard to get a leg up here.

[Syonyk]

The culture is similar here though, especially on the eastside where I live. Lots of teslas and other toys in the parking lots. Lots of overpriced high and midrise condos. My wife and I talk about it looking more and more california every day up here.

I'm east side Seattle as well, and it's kind of stupid up here.  It's not as bad as SoCal, but it's headed that way, in a hurry.  Friends who have purchased houses have had to fight the bidding wars with "Waive the inspection, cash up front, 15% over asking!" buyers (usually from out of the country).  New construction is $700k+ for your standard 3k sq ft McMansion on a Lot(TM) (minimum setbacks allowed by law), with the "nice" ones going for $900k+.  A friend of mine commented, "I'm a computer scientist and I can tell they're just thrown together as quickly as possible..." - usually with heavily restrictive and expensive HOAs as well.

Seeing my first Tesla Model S was cool.  Seeing the 100th or 1000th one... meh.  At least they don't pull out in front of me when I'm ebiking.  Also, Leafs are everywhere.  The cars, not the other kind that's everywhere.

The cost of living is high and getting higher, and there's no real sign of a break in that trend any time soon.  We're in the middle of exit plans - the salary is nice, the job is amazing, but the area is just not our thing.  So, off to the middle of nowhere we go. :)  (actually, not, but you can see it from there, and we have family in the area, plus we just had a kid 6 months ago, so... lots of reasons to move)

It really depends on what you want.  If you can live cheap and make a $fuckton of money (rent a room instead of a house/apartment, walk/bus to work, save 70-80-90% of your salary like I suspect some of my coworkers are able to do - some of them still live with their parents), you can set yourself up for life in a few years.  Yes, there's a lot of flashy wealth, but there's also an awful lot of stealth wealth.  Nobody talks about it, but you can do the math and come to some conclusions, and it occasionally comes up when someone laughs about the concept of a mortgage.  "Mortgage?  Why would you do that when you finally buy a house?" :)

Ten years of tech wages and living cheap, you're comfortably past a million, and haven't exploded your lifestyle such that you need it.  It's not compatible with relationships/marriage/kids/etc, for the most part, but it's certainly an option to consider.

[big_slacker]

I wish I had started a little earlier and single like that. Im trying to convince my wife Preston , n bend or snoqialmie is a good idea. She likes Bellevue and granted it is a very nice place to live. But like you say, 700-900k for a house in the burbs???

Although you can get something cheaper in lake hills, just older and maybe some work to do.

[Syonyk]

New construction in Kirkland is up there. I'd love to live further out, but my commute would go to "unacceptably stupid." It's already faster to ebike than to drive. And I only live 5 miles from work.

Also, my wife and I are just not "city folk." We don't care about the perks of living near a Proper City, with many ways to spend your money. We'd rather live where we can do what we want, and nearly everything is cheap or free. So we're making that change.

Just FYI, a 2k sq ft double wide can be had for $105k, new. $140k with s bunch of upgrades and a foundation. ;)

[Bearded Man]

Definitely agree that making your money and getting out is the way to do it. Who would retire IN the HCOL area! You'd have to work longer to be able to do it.

Point of the thread though was that those high salaries aren't all they are cracked up to be, as you can get the same standard of living in other areas for a lot less.

Plus from what I've read the DC and SCV markets are about to burst, as in their bubbles will be bursting soon.

[iamlindoro]

Point of the thread though was that those high salaries aren't all they are cracked up to be, as you can get the same standard of living in other areas for a lot less.

Yes, but the point of the responses was that if the goal of working is early retirement in minimum time, the same standard of living being cheaper elsewhere is irrelevant.  It's a good argument for moving elsewhere when retired, but it's not a compelling argument for moving elsewhere to work.

Plus from what I've read the DC and SCV markets are about to burst, as in their bubbles will be bursting soon.

* citation needed

People have been saying this for decades.

[big_slacker]

Definitely agree that making your money and getting out is the way to do it. Who would retire IN the HCOL area! You'd have to work longer to be able to do it.

Point of the thread though was that those high salaries aren't all they are cracked up to be, as you can get the same standard of living in other areas for a lot less.

Plus from what I've read the DC and SCV markets are about to burst, as in their bubbles will be bursting soon.

Sometimes there are reasons for HCOL vs lower and you have to weigh liking where you live vs. not working. And there is a line to be drawn. For instance, would you work an extra 5 years to retire in say La Jolla CA vs Las VEgas? Sign me the fuck up for another half a decade. Would you work an extra 20 years for the same though? I wouldn't.

[mm1970]

Definitely agree that making your money and getting out is the way to do it. Who would retire IN the HCOL area! You'd have to work longer to be able to do it.

Point of the thread though was that those high salaries aren't all they are cracked up to be, as you can get the same standard of living in other areas for a lot less.

Plus from what I've read the DC and SCV markets are about to burst, as in their bubbles will be bursting soon.

Ha! Spouse and I joke about retiring back east where we grew up.

But then we say: We live in Santa Barbara.  Why on EARTH would we retire anywhere else??

[Vilgan]

The culture is similar here though, especially on the eastside where I live. Lots of teslas and other toys in the parking lots. Lots of overpriced high and midrise condos. My wife and I talk about it looking more and more california every day up here.

I'm east side Seattle as well, and it's kind of stupid up here.  It's not as bad as SoCal, but it's headed that way, in a hurry.  Friends who have purchased houses have had to fight the bidding wars with "Waive the inspection, cash up front, 15% over asking!" buyers (usually from out of the country).  New construction is $700k+ for your standard 3k sq ft McMansion on a Lot(TM) (minimum setbacks allowed by law), with the "nice" ones going for $900k+.  A friend of mine commented, "I'm a computer scientist and I can tell they're just thrown together as quickly as possible..." - usually with heavily restrictive and expensive HOAs as well.

Seeing my first Tesla Model S was cool.  Seeing the 100th or 1000th one... meh.  At least they don't pull out in front of me when I'm ebiking.  Also, Leafs are everywhere.  The cars, not the other kind that's everywhere.

The cost of living is high and getting higher, and there's no real sign of a break in that trend any time soon. 

Responding since there's been several comments about the eastside: I completely agree with the eastside having a huge obsession with visibly displaying wealth. I strongly dislike the eastside and would never live there. There's a lot of companies doing stuff in Seattle and plenty of neighborhoods in Seattle that do NOT have this problem. If ostentatious display of income is not your thing, be selective about where you work (aka turn down offers on the eastside, investigate offers in Seattle) and live. I live on the south side of Seattle and even though plenty of people here are making extremely high amounts of money in tech, I can't remember the last time I saw a BMW or Tesla down here. People are driving Hondas and off doing a million different things that interest them (lots of gardening for example) whereas most areas east of Lake Washington I've visited feel very soulless with a lot of chains, mcmansions, and expensive cars and other toys.

[seattlecyclone]

I'm a senior engineer in the Bay Area... I make somewhere in the range seen on that infographic, and I save over 50% of it...  Raw dollars matter.  I don't think there's anywhere with a modest cost of living that I could go, do the same job, and save 70-90K a year... If the goal is to make as much money as possible, as fast as possible, then be able to GTFO, the valley can't be beat.

That's the winning strategy right there.  Put up / maneuver around the high cost of living in order to be able to save LOTS of money faster.  BUT always have as the end game getting the hell out of that HCOLA and FIREing to a reasonable cost of living area where that stash will really count!

Many of us actually like the places where we live despite their high housing costs. If a cheap rural area is where you most want to live even if money wasn't a factor, then you should certainly leave the high-cost area as soon as you can afford to FIRE in your desired locale. Please don't try to convince us that leaving for a cheap place is the only rational option, because it simply isn't. Taking that logic to its extreme, everyone should move to a poor village in Latin America as soon as they save up $100k, because that's enough to FIRE in that location. If that sounds like a good idea to you, go ahead and do it! It's far from the right option for everybody.

[russianswinga]

For instance, would you work an extra 5 years to retire in say La Jolla CA vs Las VEgas? Sign me the fuck up for another half a decade. Would you work an extra 20 years for the same though? I wouldn't.

I live 20 mins away from La Jolla, and it would certainly take well over 5 extra years of work to retire there over Las Vegas. Luckily, I consider all of SoCal a HCOL area and have no plans on retiring here: I'm going somewhere with similar weather, mountains, sea, and 1/2 the COL
http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/throw-down-the-gauntlet/retiring-in-montenegro

[honeybbq]

I live in a $$$ SFH in Northern Seattle and cannot WAIT to FIRE and sell it like a hotcake.

To the burbs I'll go!! Hopefully with fat wads of cash tucked under each arm.

[WSUCoug1994]

This topic hits home for me.  Born and raised in Seattle (30 years) and moved to the Bay Area in 2002.  For the type of work that I do - there is literally not a better place in the world for us to live.  We choose to live here because I don't like to travel for work and I am home almost every night of the week. 

I make a lot of sacrifices to live here - the housing is a the largest sacrifice.  I don't need a McMansion but I would like to have a reasonable sized house on a reasonable piece of land for our family's final destination.  My wife and I have committed to living a low cost lifestyle (30% of our income) for the next 7-8 years, putting away as much as wee can, staying in our tiny house until I can decrease my work load and head towards a LCOL location. 

I refuse to commute - so a closer LCOL location is out of the option for us.  I suspect that the near term housing frustration will be balanced with FI in the coming years which will enable us to have more time and freedom.

[ninja_]

I'm a senior engineer in the Bay Area... I make somewhere in the range seen on that infographic, and I save over 50% of it...  Raw dollars matter.  I don't think there's anywhere with a modest cost of living that I could go, do the same job, and save 70-90K a year... If the goal is to make as much money as possible, as fast as possible, then be able to GTFO, the valley can't be beat.

That's the winning strategy right there.  Put up / maneuver around the high cost of living in order to be able to save LOTS of money faster.  BUT always have as the end game getting the hell out of that HCOLA and FIREing to a reasonable cost of living area where that stash will really count!

This is really interesting to hear. The hardest part for me when I recently looked was getting housing costs down. A one bedroom apartment within biking distance of downtown San Francisco was over $3k, which made it hard to rationalize. I'm happy to ride 5 or so miles (maybe more if I can save a ton) - any recommendations on where to look?

I currently make 110k base in Austin with a pretty reasonable cost of living, and based on my calculations of 3k rent + extra taxes, I'd have to make close to 160 base to break even. Unless I receive a lot more stock, the numbers just don't add up for me.

I'd also love to live in Denver if I could make the numbers make sense. Mountains :)

[iamlindoro]

I'm a senior engineer in the Bay Area... I make somewhere in the range seen on that infographic, and I save over 50% of it...  Raw dollars matter.  I don't think there's anywhere with a modest cost of living that I could go, do the same job, and save 70-90K a year... If the goal is to make as much money as possible, as fast as possible, then be able to GTFO, the valley can't be beat.

That's the winning strategy right there.  Put up / maneuver around the high cost of living in order to be able to save LOTS of money faster.  BUT always have as the end game getting the hell out of that HCOLA and FIREing to a reasonable cost of living area where that stash will really count!

This is really interesting to hear. The hardest part for me when I recently looked was getting housing costs down. A one bedroom apartment within biking distance of downtown San Francisco was over $3k, which made it hard to rationalize. I'm happy to ride 5 or so miles (maybe more if I can save a ton) - any recommendations on where to look?

I currently make 110k base in Austin with a pretty reasonable cost of living, and based on my calculations of 3k rent + extra taxes, I'd have to make close to 160 base to break even. Unless I receive a lot more stock, the numbers just don't add up for me.

I'd also love to live in Denver if I could make the numbers make sense. Mountains :)

My advice would be to not work in San Francisco.  You can make just as much in the south bay or on the peninsula, and live someplace like San Jose, Fremont, Milpitas, etc. and spend around 1/3rd that amount if you are willing to have roommates. If you must live alone, it can be done for ~1500 or less in San Jose.

Most of the companies in SF are the "trendy" companies that attract the engineers that just want to live in SF.  They aren't necessarily the highest paying.

[ninja_]

I'm a senior engineer in the Bay Area... I make somewhere in the range seen on that infographic, and I save over 50% of it...  Raw dollars matter.  I don't think there's anywhere with a modest cost of living that I could go, do the same job, and save 70-90K a year... If the goal is to make as much money as possible, as fast as possible, then be able to GTFO, the valley can't be beat.

That's the winning strategy right there.  Put up / maneuver around the high cost of living in order to be able to save LOTS of money faster.  BUT always have as the end game getting the hell out of that HCOLA and FIREing to a reasonable cost of living area where that stash will really count!

This is really interesting to hear. The hardest part for me when I recently looked was getting housing costs down. A one bedroom apartment within biking distance of downtown San Francisco was over $3k, which made it hard to rationalize. I'm happy to ride 5 or so miles (maybe more if I can save a ton) - any recommendations on where to look?

I currently make 110k base in Austin with a pretty reasonable cost of living, and based on my calculations of 3k rent + extra taxes, I'd have to make close to 160 base to break even. Unless I receive a lot more stock, the numbers just don't add up for me.

I'd also love to live in Denver if I could make the numbers make sense. Mountains :)

My advice would be to not work in San Francisco.  You can make just as much in the south bay or on the peninsula, and live someplace like San Jose, Fremont, Milpitas, etc. and spend around 1/3rd that amount if you are willing to have roommates. If you must live alone, it can be done for ~1500 or less in San Jose.

Most of the companies in SF are the "trendy" companies that attract the engineers that just want to live in SF.  They aren't necessarily the highest paying.

Interesting, I really appreciate it.

1500 is actually how much I'm paying for rent right now in Austin (yes, I know it's relatively pricey) for a place close to downtown. The numbers could really start to make sense down in San Jose / Fremont (I recently took an extended weekend trip there).

[iamlindoro]

Interesting, I really appreciate it.

1500 is actually how much I'm paying for rent right now in Austin (yes, I know it's relatively pricey) for a place close to downtown. The numbers could really start to make sense down in San Jose / Fremont (I recently took an extended weekend trip there).

No problem!

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/search/apa?max_price=1500&query=san+jose

If you ever seriously consider it and want to bounce neighborhoods in the south bay off of someone, I'm happy to help.

[ninja_]

Interesting, I really appreciate it.

1500 is actually how much I'm paying for rent right now in Austin (yes, I know it's relatively pricey) for a place close to downtown. The numbers could really start to make sense down in San Jose / Fremont (I recently took an extended weekend trip there).

No problem!

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/search/apa?max_price=1500&query=san+jose

If you ever seriously consider it and want to bounce neighborhoods in the south bay off of someone, I'm happy to help.

Will do, I really appreciate it!

I passively started looking at companies in the heart of San Francisco about a month ago, and almost interviewed at a place, but it doesn't make sense to do so in the middle of the busy holidays (I have several trips planned). I'll be looking a bit more aggressively come the beginning of next year, and I'll definitely reach out to you.

I'm also interested to hear how far you have to commute to San Francisco to get a reasonable rent price. Is it even possible using a bike?

[iamlindoro]

I'm also interested to hear how far you have to commute to San Francisco to get a reasonable rent price. Is it even possible using a bike?

Not really, though it's certainly plausible to live somewhere affordable in Oakland and take BART in.  I'm honestly not an expert in San Francisco companies and commutes-- I live and work in the South Bay, nearly 60 miles away.  However, I'm closer to places like Apple, Google, Microsoft, Tesla, Facebook, and the other well known Bay Area companies than anyone in SF, because none of them are in SF.  They're all on the peninsula or in the south bay.  I live biking distance from Apple's current and future campuses.

[ninja_]

I'm also interested to hear how far you have to commute to San Francisco to get a reasonable rent price. Is it even possible using a bike?

Not really, though it's certainly plausible to live somewhere affordable in Oakland and take BART in.  I'm honestly not an expert in San Francisco companies and commutes-- I live and work in the South Bay, nearly 60 miles away.  However, I'm closer to places like Apple, Google, Microsoft, Tesla, Facebook, and the other well known Bay Area companies than anyone in SF, because none of them are in SF.  They're all on the peninsula or in the south bay.  I live biking distance from Apple's current and future campuses.

How's the biking infrastructure where you are? Can you bike most places safely? Are there bike lanes?

[iamlindoro]

How's the biking infrastructure where you are? Can you bike most places safely? Are there bike lanes?

Oh my, yes :)  The south bay and the peninsula are inundated with cyclists.  San Jose cycling infrastructure (trails and bike lanes) are decent and fairly safe in the decent neighborhoods, rudimentary but safe in the less decent neighborhoods.  Starting from about Cupertino/Los Altos and northward, most all of the major commute routes see huge cycling traffic, so have bike lanes and the advantage of numbers.  On the weekends, the same areas are packed with recreational cyclists, particularly up into the hills and mountains. 

The Apple spaceship campus is about ten miles from where I live.  I could remain on bike lanes the entire way, and the best bike infrastructure is actually just beyond that starting on Foothill expressway, which has easy access to VMWare, Tesla, Facebook, etc..

[Retired To Win]

I'm a senior engineer in the Bay Area... I make somewhere in the range seen on that infographic, and I save over 50% of it...  Raw dollars matter.  I don't think there's anywhere with a modest cost of living that I could go, do the same job, and save 70-90K a year... If the goal is to make as much money as possible, as fast as possible, then be able to GTFO, the valley can't be beat.

That's the winning strategy right there.  Put up / maneuver around the high cost of living in order to be able to save LOTS of money faster.  BUT always have as the end game getting the hell out of that HCOLA and FIREing to a reasonable cost of living area where that stash will really count!

Many of us actually like the places where we live despite their high housing costs. If a cheap rural area is where you most want to live even if money wasn't a factor, then you should certainly leave the high-cost area as soon as you can afford to FIRE in your desired locale. Please don't try to convince us that leaving for a cheap place is the only rational option, because it simply isn't. Taking that logic to its extreme, everyone should move to a poor village in Latin America as soon as they save up $100k, because that's enough to FIRE in that location. If that sounds like a good idea to you, go ahead and do it! It's far from the right option for everybody.

I don't think anyone is advocating taking the logic to an extreme like the one you have posited (bold text).  But you should not get mind-chained to an HCOLA just because you live and work there at present.  One should at least research the possibility of finding a more reasonable cost of living area that still offers the social/environmental/infrastructure factors one really values.

I did that and succeeded.  If I had not found a suitable place to move to, I would at least have known that I had tried.  That's all.

(And you don't have to get so riled up and defensive about justifying your present residence location.  If it works for you, all above considered, good luck to you.)