<i>&gt;How do you justify 150k salary in US vs 25k salary in India ? Different costs of living ? Yes and no. In many poor countries some stuff is just more expensive than in the richer ones.</i><p>What people are willing to work for.<p>If <i>nobody</i> in India was willing to do the job for $25k annual salary - they would need to be offered more to do the job. Flat out, that simple. It turns out that there are <i>many</i> people willing to do the job for the lower pay - because it beats other options available to them.<p>On the other side of the coin - fewer people would take the job in the U.S if it <i>wasn&#x27;t</i> $150k&#x2F;yr salary. They&#x27;d walk to another offer that they feel is worth their time because the offer <i>doesn&#x27;t beat</i> other options available to them.