&gt;Ann is paid $170,000 in the Bay Area because that what all the other developers of her caliber are willing to exchange their time and expertise for.<p>Well...sort of.  Ann is paid $170K because Bay-area companies have bid up the cost of Bay-area developers to $170K.<p>Ann doesn&#x27;t really have a say in this, and it has nothing to do with how much value she adds to the company (although obviously a company wouldn&#x27;t fork over 170K if she didn&#x27;t add at least that much value to the company).<p>Now if Ann moves to Costa Rica, she is now a Costa Rica-based remote developer. And I suspect that Costa Rica-based remote developers have not been bid up to the same level as Bay-area based developers.  So her employer would certainly be justified in seeking a downward salary adjustment.