One thing I&#x27;ve noticed about cost-of-living discussions is that people fail to take into account that the cost-of-living isn&#x27;t some abstract constant, but is still buying something &quot;real&quot;. In general, which area has more crime: The 90th percentile cost of living area or the 5th percentile cost of living area? Which area has nice stores with a wide variety of organic fruits and veggies, and which area has stores where they can&#x27;t afford to replace the floor tiles when they pop out? As you say, you can&#x27;t just do a cost-of-living calculation blindly.<p>That said, adding in those factors often makes Silicon Valley come out even worse. I&#x27;ve visited it quite a bit and it is not nicer enough to account for cost-of-living difference, unless you simply can not stand to live somewhere with less than perfect weather. But I think that&#x27;s special to the Valley.