My 2 cents as someone who left the Bay Area in 2003 and came back in 2014...<p>If you want to be at the core of a game changing software company that&#x27;s got a decent shot of being a rocket ship, you&#x27;re most likely to do it in the Bay Area.  It isn&#x27;t about getting rich, or cost of living or any of that.  If you want a good stable technology job with a large house in a good school district, you can get it anywhere.  If you want to maximize the likelihood of earning cash, hold your nose and go to Wall Street.  If you want to work at Google or Facebook, you can live very well outside the Bay Area.<p>But...  The best chance at grabbing onto the next Google or Facebook, it&#x27;s best to go where these companies are sprouting from.