I didn't mean to imply that in each city, a software developer makes more than half of the price of a home in a year. What I am asserting is that, in contrast to the previous post, software developers can afford homes in these (very expensive) cities and they can do so at a much higher rate than the average resident.
An average software developer earns about $85,000 in Sydney, so you're right, they're priced out of the central city's market. Senior software engineers make $100-150k, so even they make only up to 15% of a median downtown home.
I lived in Macquarie Park, a suburb of Sydney (which is ~20 minutes by public transit from the center of the city). The median price for a house there is $619k. That's well within reach for a senior engineer, although admittedly more of a stretch for an average developer.
Software engineer salaries in Seattle average $111k. As you've said, the median home price there is about $500k, which is very much attainable for someone earning six figures. The average income in Seattle is $37k, showing that (just like in Charlotte) software developers make about 3x as much as the average resident, and are in fact one of the few groups not yet priced out of central housing.
An average software developer earns about $85,000 in Sydney, so you're right, they're priced out of the central city's market. Senior software engineers make $100-150k, so even they make only up to 15% of a median downtown home.
I lived in Macquarie Park, a suburb of Sydney (which is ~20 minutes by public transit from the center of the city). The median price for a house there is $619k. That's well within reach for a senior engineer, although admittedly more of a stretch for an average developer.
Software engineer salaries in Seattle average $111k. As you've said, the median home price there is about $500k, which is very much attainable for someone earning six figures. The average income in Seattle is $37k, showing that (just like in Charlotte) software developers make about 3x as much as the average resident, and are in fact one of the few groups not yet priced out of central housing.
https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/sydney-software-engineer-...
https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/sydney-senior-software-en...
https://www.investsmart.com.au/property/nsw/2113/macquarie-p...
http://www.indeed.com/salary?q1=software+engineer&l1=seattle...
http://www.deptofnumbers.com/income/washington/seattle/