I wasn't eavesdropping at all, but I recently overheard someone in Austin ask someone else: "If you don't mind me asking, how much is their offer?" "Austin starting salary, plus 5%." [acting like she knew exactly what that meant]"Oh, great. So you going to take it?"[/acting like she knew exactly what that meant] I have no idea what profession she was in (probably just a basic office job, if I had to guess), but what would you think "Austin starting salary" means? Because I have no clue.
it means the employer told her that they were offering the average starting salary for her position in Austin plus an additional 5%. There's really no way to know what that is without knowing what she does and what career level she was at. Keep in mind it could also be what the EMPLOYER considers to be the Austin average and that Austin+5% could be the actual market average. So the answer is the number could be just about anything.
this is my guess. she was deciding b/t offers from the same firm but in different cities. so say NY offers 50k + 5k signing bonus, Austin offers 48k + 3k signing, and she's waiting for San Fran's offer. she finally gets the offer from SF and her friend asks her what it is, and the girl says "it's Austin's offer + 5%". i'm almost positive that's what she meant, as that's the same language we used to use.
Dallas and Houston are the land of the wealthy? Not being facetious, but on average, the citizens of Houston and Dallas make quite a bit more than Austinites? If so, that's ok, stay up there.
average per capita income is higher in Austin than both Dallas and Houston. Austin is also a more expensive city (especially for housing). I am not sure why people think salaries are higher in Dallas and Houston (maybe in many specific professions, but not over all).
Accounting salaries are much higher in Dallas and Houston. Federal jobs also pay more in Houston and Dallas.
I would think this is a conversation between two people who really don't know what they are talking about. Was she trying to impress someone that she's going to make 5% more than someone else who is starting? 5% doesn't really impress anyone unless the salary starts to get high in the 6 figures. And at that level, there is no such thing as a starting salary.