I know developers in Pittsburgh that were making 120-150k at FedEx Ground HQ. I know plenty that make over 100k. Although I see postings for 45k and wonder if they ever fill them. I'm not a Dev but I make almost 90k. If I moved to California I could probably find something at 120k but I don't know that 30k is enough of a difference. If you are talking about 50k vs 150k then it's a no-brainer to move.
I'm sorry, but Pittsburgh has very few software companies that provide the sort of training, environment, experience and challenge that allow an area to develop and produce top technical talent. Yes, Pittsburgh has great universities, a small startup scene, and some amazing medical and applied science companies, but the software development industry there is extremely small.
I lived there until I was 26. I worked 5 years for Sony out in westmoreland county. When I started to do some freelance work, I had local Pittsburgh recruiters tell me I could never make what I was aiming for. So I took a contract just a few hours away in Philly that paid double what I could get in Pittsburgh. I don't know if there's a single firm in Pittsburgh, aside from perhaps Google, that could match the salary I currently have or the offers I've had from large tech firms in LA, San Francisco, Seattle and NYC.
(Inferring from my perception of your tone in the first paragraph that you find software engineering for FedEx somehow unacceptable; forgive me if I'm off-base)
I'm not sure what you find offensive about the idea of working for a company that is trying to solve one of the hardest logistical challenges in history, at scale. It doesn't seem very glamorous, until someone needs socks (or medicine) right-the-hell-NOW.
How long ago were you 26? Wikipedia tells me Sony was out in Westmoreland between 1990 and 2008; if you're drawing on knowledge from the '90s, other comments in this thread suggest to me your perspective is woefully out-of-date... And at the rate things are growing, 2008 may still be out-of-date.
I work for IBM now in Pittsburgh. I think I get what you are saying. There are jobs in Pittsburgh that pay that much but they aren't jobs you would want. FedEx was pretty terrible but if you were the kind of person that could put up with an environment like that you could make good money. IBM has been surprising not as terrible as I thought it would be.
Oh, they get filled. I took one of those jobs out of college. Took quite a while for people to realize that developers are a resource worth more than 45k.
