My first job out of college a few years ago was at a smallish tech company located around a cluster of small cities with populations ranging from around 15k-60k. I was needing a job but I didn’t have any experience so I figured I’d take it. Little did I know that that job would end up being one of the most toxic experiences of my life. The company was rampant with nepotism, outbursts of profanity-filled rants from the higher-ups who liked to seemingly harass people on the spot just for a power trip, low employee morale, stressful and repetitive work, etc. And they somehow got it into their heads that it was ok to underpay their employees because we were in a “low cost-of-living” area. Starting salary was sub 30k for me. I started looking around and found a similar tech job nearby after a couple of years that wasn’t much of a salary increase at all but I wanted to get away from the toxic environment. However I started researching and learning and I realized that if I moved to a more populous place, odds are I could find something that would pay a lot more. And I was right. I found a new semi-entry level tech job at a big city (population approx. 250k) that was about 2 hours away and the starting salary was over 70k. It was an adjustment to move but it was well worth it. And the cost of living hasn’t been meaningfully different in the slightest. I really wish I’d known a few years ago that I was getting gypped simply because I was working at a tech company in a smaller area. A low cost of living is no excuse to pay below industry standards.