
How Much Does a Software Developer in Portland Earn? - turoczy
http://dyepot-teapot.com/2011/04/14/how-much-does-a-software-developer-in-portland-earn/
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al3x
It depends on who you work for. If you work with us at BankSimple, you'd make
the same as if you worked in our Brooklyn or SF offices. Normalizing salaries
across our three locations is the only fair thing to do, regardless of the
fact that we think talented developers are worth a premium.

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trustfundbaby
I don't mean to come across as combative but how is that fair?

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djloche
If you value software developer's talents at $x per year, it shouldn't matter
where they're located in the world. Perhaps you'd pay a slight premium for in-
house workers vs telecommuters but only if that made sense for your business.

Whether they're in New Delhi, San Francisco, or some no-name town in middle
america, if they've got the skills to develop your software and provide a
similar value (compared to each other), paying them a standard rate is fair.

edit: I'll also note that "fair" isn't the standard for business these days,
but it's interesting to see some companies attempting to do things
differently.

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trustfundbaby
Sounds nice ... but if it costs one developer $4000 a month just to take care
of bills/rent/food and it costs the other $1000 then that is hardly fair. You
are penalizing one developer based on the cost of living of the city they
happen to be in.

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jbermudes
In this world of airplanes and shipping services, there's no non-medical non-
legal reason why you're stuck in any particular expensive city. Choosing to
live in a big expensive city is an expense choice that you make, just like
buying a premium brand.

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rtaycher
jobs? especially in the computer industry.

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siculars
I would say the same as you would get anywhere else +/-10%.

There have been a lot of threads recently around salary. I'm pretty sure it is
entirely based on your willingness to negotiate to the best of your abilities.
Yes, you need to be willing to step up to the plate and negotiate.

Thankfully we work in a very mobile and fluid industry. I know people who live
in Oklahoma and work for well known startups that get paid a very competitive
wage even for NYC standards. Location is becoming less of a factor in the war
for talent.

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BadCookie
When I was looking at moving to Portland about 18 months ago, companies there
wanted me to take a 40+% cut in pay versus what I'm making in San Francisco.
Granted, I only talked to a couple of companies, so maybe I just picked the
wrong ones. Things might also have changed since then, thanks to the economy
picking up and the higher competition for software engineers.

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siculars
That may be part of the reason Portland is not keeping up with other tech
centers. Taking a 40% pay cut just to work in Portland is kinda... dumb.

I mean, did these startups accept a 40% cut in their valuation or funding
rounds because they are based in Portland? Do they pay 40% less to host with
Amazon or Rackspace? It's just ridiculous and kind of insulting. I once had
someone pull that on me re. a job in Florida. The dude was like "hey, there is
no income tax here!" And I was like "hey, bmws cost the same all over the
country." (Not that I drive a bmw, mind you. I drive a 129$/mo honda civic.
It's just the principle of it all.)

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rdl
I'm pretty sure Portland based companies take more than a 40% cut in valuation
and funding rounds, vs. SF based companies. (not saying this is a good thing,
just that it is observed)

There is a weird valley (which Portland is still kind of close to the "uphill"
side of, which SF/NYC probably are the top of) where sufficiently remote or
small places are cheaper for a lot of things (real estate, mass market locally
produced goods like restaurants and cafes, probably generic developers or IT
helpdesk people), but then more expensive for certain specialized skills (if
you absolutely must have one of the world's top 100 experts in COBOL working
for your remote office in North Dakota for 2 months, you're going to have to
pay him more than to have him work from SF).

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dons
Depends. Are you writing Haskell at Galois or JanRain?

