The folks at Focus have put together a handy infographic about earning potential in Silicon Valley where the number of jobs at internet companies (currently clocking in at 48,000) has surpassed the excesses of the dotcom boom. As Business Insider points out, the salaries listed (product and marketing managers make more than web developers and software engineers; Google engineers make more than those at Facebook and Twitter), don’t account for stock-based compensation.
But the chart does delve into cost of living, typically an area where New York City loses out, although apparently not compared to the Valley.
The average tech salary in the Valley is around $92, 299 a year. Once you factor in the average price for a home in Silicon Valley (which is more than 191 percent above the national average) and the average apartment rent ($2,241/month or 76 percent higher than the national average) and California’s 9.3 percent income tax on anyone making over $46,776 (New York state’s rate is 6.85 percent on income between $20,001 and $200,000), Focus says become techies would have to earn just $74,808 for the same cost of living in New York City.
These numbers are all just for context because no one would ever leave New York City’s burgeoning tech ecosystem for the Left Coast, right? Right?!
Update: Focus just reached out to Betabeat with another infographic comparing the Alley and the Valley. This one looks at the cost of operating a business in NYC vs. San Francisco. After examining everything from salaries to payroll tax to cost of utilities, Focus concludes, “San Francisco remains a more reasonable location to operate a business. Unless of course you plan to take your company public.” That’s because San Francisco’s payroll tax counts employees cashing out stock options as gains. In Twitter’s case, TechCrunch reported, if the company went public and raised $100 million, they would owe the city $75 million.
Like we said, keep on keepin’ on. Nothing to see there, folks.
