This is for established companies rather than startups, right?
My experience here has been the same - as a good developer with several years experience, it wasn't hard finding offers at 65k from big tech firms (plus substantial but slow-vesting stock in one case). I spoke to a couple of startups, and they didn't want to pay that much, but I would guess that they could have done 55k. If I went contracting, I think I'd be looking for 550-600 a day.
My experience here has been the same - as a good developer with several years experience, it wasn't hard finding offers at 65k from big tech firms (plus substantial but slow-vesting stock in one case). I spoke to a couple of startups, and they didn't want to pay that much, but I would guess that they could have done 55k. If I went contracting, I think I'd be looking for 550-600 a day.