The US national average is around $90k&#x2F;year (£65k, €82k).<p>If you&#x27;re in a place like Indianapolis, Indiana, which is basically as vanilla as a middle America gets, median salary drops to something like $70k&#x2F;year (£50k, €65k).  But there are basically no entry-level jobs there, and you either have to go to Chicago or a military base to find work nearby as a new graduate.  That means the 12 experienced software pros that still work as employees in the city earn waaay below average.  But the housing costs there are very low, such that it&#x27;s much easier to buy a home in Indianapolis on $70k&#x2F;year than in San Francisco with $105k&#x2F;year (£75k, €95k).<p>There is the additional disadvantage that none of your employers will be even remotely sexy, there will be a pathetically low number to choose from, the public transit is terrible, and if you are at all worried about public schools, you would need to live in Carmel, Fishers, or Washington township, all quite a lengthy and congested commute from downtown.<p>Two hours away, in Chicago, median salary is $75k&#x2F;year (£55k, €68k), with a greater variety of potential employers.  Housing still affordable.  Public transit is very usable.  But the city is more corrupt than Dis, and nearly bankrupt.<p>The competition for housing around SF-Oakland-SJ is certainly driving up software industry salaries in that area.  Companies hiring on-site employees in the metro area can&#x27;t get anyone who can&#x27;t afford to live within commuting distance, and can&#x27;t keep in the long-term anyone who can&#x27;t eventually secure family-appropriate lodgings within the same radius.  And the intense competition for competent employees means that companies have to constantly outbid each other.<p>It really is insane out there.  I have utterly no clue on how they can sustain such a high salary differential with the entire rest of the world without collapsing the market.