Looking at these numbers, I am amazed at the inequality bt. different parts of the world. Here in Turkey, hourly rate of a developer is around 10$, maybe 15$ if you are better. Of course, the cost of living is lower, but still...
Makes you wonder, doesn't it? Throughout this thread I've seen derogatory comments about "overseas" talent, which is to be avoided like plague.
Are the developers in USA really 10x more effective than in Asia/poorer parts of Europe, to warrant the 10x higher salaries? To me the answer is obviously not (I live in Eastern Europe), but perhaps there is some magical quality one acquires upon moving to the US :-)
EDIT: Obviously charge western rates if you can :) My point is it's hard to justify the imbalance of market value that you mention, in case of IT freelancing.
I live in the US and have worked with teams that had developers in India and Eastern Europe. The language barrier can be very tough. So much so that the "discount" just isn't worth it.
Quite the same here for me in India. 15$/hr is considered good for a web developer (atleast on oDesk). I have worked with a US based client and a Belgium client. They both say that I am the best they have worked with, in terms of technical skills and communication.(They are both developers) But maybe thats because of their limited price range to begin with. But looking at the rates over here I think we both need to learn to market ourselves better. Or maybe we need to find better source for getting work. From where do you get your work by the way?
Time to move abroad perhaps.