TBH that's surprisingly low. I know engineers making this in Phoenix at mid-size companies and even more in specific industries like financials. Cost of living is much lower than many of Google's offices here. These folks are good engineers, but probably couldn't pass the kernel/syscall level questions people have shared from Google SRE interviews.
The whole culture of those colluding companies seems pretty feudal - "you should feel honored to be a member in our court"
I think it's exactly that - there is a lot of real or manufactured kudos in working for the Big G. Geeks wanted to work for them. They approached Google. Google didn't have to try.
That, and it's a fun exciting place for young people, the bikes, free food etc.
Half is taxes and the other half of that is rent for a 1 room apartment. NYC ain't cheap. I have no idea why there are software engineering offices in this city.
Tell me about it. Front office technology at one of the larger banks here in NYC -- the only reason we still have jobs is because the desk needs someone in technology to yell at when things go wrong.
Your taxes and living observation gels pretty well with my ongoing experience in the city :(
