I would need $330k/yr in San Francisco, over $450k in Palo Alto to match my current standard of living. Probably a little more since my state/local taxes are a low double digit percentage of what they would be in California. Not to mention the fact I can get from my home to my office in 15 minutes during rush hour. Which in either of those two places mean I'd need to be within walking distance.

Cue all the people saying it's "easy" or "just a matter of time" to get a $500k/yr job at Netflix or some garbage, but the truth is most software developers aren't going to work for any of the Big n companies, and will top out their comp around $125-175k cash and some RSUs that will be worthless 90% of the time. Even in Silicon Valley. So you get to make ~10% more in SV doing the same job you'd be doing in Minneapolis or Omaha or Pittsburgh or Charlotte or Reno for a cost of living that means you get to take home $500/mo in disposable income, sit in traffic for two hours each way, and pay one of the highest state tax rates in the country.

I'd rather make slightly less and have a maxed out 401k, Roth, be making double payments on my mortgage (how many people in SF can even have a mortgage, let alone pay it off in ~12 years, without being millionaires?), and be able to drive from my home to my office in less time than it takes the 2009 Patriots to make 5 touchdowns.