No, it's Chicago too, unless you're working on low-latency finance stuff.

Untrue. I lived and worked as a software engineer in Chicago (downtown) for a number of years before moving westward. Most mid-career developers I knew there were comfortably in the 100's and only one worked at the CME ('finance stuff', in C++).

It boils down to simple economic rules. If you're good at developing software, there aren't a lot of people like you looking for a job and the market has a high demand for your skill then you are probably doing something wrong if you're not earning well into the 100's or higher (if that is what you're trying to optimize for).

Which area are you in? Your LinkedIn profile suggests financial/webdev work.

I've been doing embedded/firmware engineering in this area my entire career and, right now, 100K is typical for a senior position with very few positions available over 125K. The only way to go higher is to consult.

Perhaps it's the glut of ex-Moto/ATT/Lucent/Tellabs people floating around. I dunno.

{ If you're going to downvote me, at least provide some counterexamples! I'd love to send out some resumes... =) }

I've seen companies willing to pay >100k in Chicago and relocate people there, for engineers with only ~4 years of experience.

6 figures is the exception, but it's far from impossible in Milwaukee and Madison writing code.

I'm in Madison, approaching my 40s and making well into the six figures. I was just very persistent in looking and found a niche opportunity. Although I do worry about the central premise of the story being true--future raises becoming more difficult especially in the face of a layoff or recession.

Who hires many people in tech in Milwaukee? I'm from there and don't know of anywhere that does much other than basic in-house line-of-business software— is it just banks and insurance companies?

Definitely possible in Madison. I'd assume Epic's fresh-out-of-school starting salary is nearly 6 figures now, if not already above it.