7 ms·

It's all based off the CoL in county of your primary residence. Has nothing to do with the proximity to an office.

cgdub 5y ago
Does that mean you would get paid less for living in Queens County instead of New York County?
hinkley 5y ago
But if there is anywhere in the county that has escaped full IT gentrification because of poor commuter access, those prices are going to explode if they haven't already. Since median house price is a huge fraction of CoL calculations (and a frequent complaint among some economists), staying in county gets you a raise, if your friends do it too.
- csa 5y ago
  > those prices are going to explode if they haven't already That ship has sailed, and it’s got a nice tail wind as well.
  - Talanes 5y ago
    Yeah, last time I looked at rents in my hometown, the cheapest options there were comparable to the cheapest options in San Francisco. They're probably a bit ahead of the curve; most the empty land around is either federal or LADWP, so there's limited room for new development, but it's a major shot up from pre-pandemic prices where renting a full house was cheaper than an SF bedroom.
jaredsohn 5y ago
Curious if companies pay differently based on county of primary residence if you commute to the office.
- iancmceachern 5y ago
  Exactly. If someone who lives in say, Tracy, who has always commuted into the office, and continues to do so. Would they get their pay cut?
hhmc 5y ago
I'm wondering what's stopping a cottage industry popping up of 'synthetic residence' in high CoL areas. E.g. I live in a low-CoL area, but I pay you, someone living a high-CoL area, $100 to nominally be your "flatmate".
- tshaddox 5y ago
  There's nothing particularly clever about that, it's just straight up textbook employee fraud.
  - tomnipotent 5y ago
    And it's not fraud for an employer to arbitrarily control pay based on someones location? Is their revenue similarly confined by that employees contributions because of location?
    - mdoms 5y ago
      No that's obviously not fraud. Words have meanings.
      - tomnipotent 5y ago
        Fraud is defined as wrongful or criminal deception that results in financial or personal gain. A company telling me my worth is based on where I live at that exact moment definitely feels like wrongful deception intended for financial gain.
        mdoms 5y ago
        Well it's not. Don't know what to tell you bud.
        hnfong 5y ago
        The law doesn't care how you feel pal.
    - 5y ago
danielsju6 5y ago
Not at Google. When you go remote you're paid based the same as if you were onsite at the nearest office to your residence, limits are roughly CSA (combined statistical area) in the US—not cost of living.
vitus 5y ago
Not true. If it were based on cost of living, then Google would pay more for you to work from Hawaii than from Alabama. (Spoilers: it doesn't, they're both in the same salary band.) It's slightly more true that it's based on the local cost of labor, but even more so that it's just based on the state, with carveouts for MSAs (which are defined based on county) surrounding certain offices commanding higher salaries. You'd make just as much working remotely in Matamoras, PA as you would working out of the NYC office in Manhattan.

Does that mean you would get paid less for living in Queens County instead of New York County?

But if there is anywhere in the county that has escaped full IT gentrification because of poor commuter access, those prices are going to explode if they haven't already. Since median house price is a huge fraction of CoL calculations (and a frequent complaint among some economists), staying in county gets you a raise, if your friends do it too.

csa 5y ago
> those prices are going to explode if they haven't already That ship has sailed, and it’s got a nice tail wind as well.
- Talanes 5y ago
  Yeah, last time I looked at rents in my hometown, the cheapest options there were comparable to the cheapest options in San Francisco. They're probably a bit ahead of the curve; most the empty land around is either federal or LADWP, so there's limited room for new development, but it's a major shot up from pre-pandemic prices where renting a full house was cheaper than an SF bedroom.

jaredsohn 5y ago

Curious if companies pay differently based on county of primary residence if you commute to the office.

iancmceachern 5y ago
Exactly. If someone who lives in say, Tracy, who has always commuted into the office, and continues to do so. Would they get their pay cut?

hhmc 5y ago

I'm wondering what's stopping a cottage industry popping up of 'synthetic residence' in high CoL areas. E.g. I live in a low-CoL area, but I pay you, someone living a high-CoL area, $100 to nominally be your "flatmate".

tshaddox 5y ago
There's nothing particularly clever about that, it's just straight up textbook employee fraud.
- tomnipotent 5y ago
  And it's not fraud for an employer to arbitrarily control pay based on someones location? Is their revenue similarly confined by that employees contributions because of location?
  - mdoms 5y ago
    No that's obviously not fraud. Words have meanings.
    - tomnipotent 5y ago
      Fraud is defined as wrongful or criminal deception that results in financial or personal gain. A company telling me my worth is based on where I live at that exact moment definitely feels like wrongful deception intended for financial gain.
      - mdoms 5y ago
        Well it's not. Don't know what to tell you bud.
      - hnfong 5y ago
        The law doesn't care how you feel pal.
  - 5y ago

danielsju6 5y ago

Not at Google. When you go remote you're paid based the same as if you were onsite at the nearest office to your residence, limits are roughly CSA (combined statistical area) in the US—not cost of living.

vitus 5y ago

Not true. If it were based on cost of living, then Google would pay more for you to work from Hawaii than from Alabama. (Spoilers: it doesn't, they're both in the same salary band.) It's slightly more true that it's based on the local cost of labor, but even more so that it's just based on the state, with carveouts for MSAs (which are defined based on county) surrounding certain offices commanding higher salaries. You'd make just as much working remotely in Matamoras, PA as you would working out of the NYC office in Manhattan.