Salaries versus COL, and the impacts of the perception of both, are not (usually) linearly correlated, but which side of the line any given locality falls upon is hard to predict. Salaries in San Jose, for example, are significantly better relative to COL (in part because of the halo effect from the rest of the Bay Area) than they would be in Los Angeles, where cost-of-living is high but a commensurate lifting of salary has not been seen. But considering this as a general note of unfairness rings pretty hollow to me. It's a relative scale problem; my yearly net is going to be more actionable and more usable than that of someone in a low-COL area because the work usually isn't there to begin with.
As an example, from the numbers I've seen whenever I've talked to companies out there, I would probably take home between 40% and 50% more money if I relocated to San Francisco from Boston; I'm very good at what I do and my set of skills is in high demand. I'd probably pay between 20 and 25% more in expenses, including taxes. The biggest increase would, of course, be housing costs--but I would have more disposable income that I could then (because that kind of money is buy-capital money--unlike, say, a tiny pacifying bribe to look the other way while the rich monumentally loot us) use to invest and reap consistent returns in a way that is functionally unavailable to most people living in, say, the Lakes Region of Maine, where I grew up and where the average household income is about $41,000.
As an example, from the numbers I've seen whenever I've talked to companies out there, I would probably take home between 40% and 50% more money if I relocated to San Francisco from Boston; I'm very good at what I do and my set of skills is in high demand. I'd probably pay between 20 and 25% more in expenses, including taxes. The biggest increase would, of course, be housing costs--but I would have more disposable income that I could then (because that kind of money is buy-capital money--unlike, say, a tiny pacifying bribe to look the other way while the rich monumentally loot us) use to invest and reap consistent returns in a way that is functionally unavailable to most people living in, say, the Lakes Region of Maine, where I grew up and where the average household income is about $41,000.