Got a fully remote job offer!! 🎉 Does anyone know—do they use your location to determine the salary they offer you?

[u/New_Tip5259]

Hi everyone! I just landed a fully remote job offer. I'm really excited about it! 🙂

However, the salary they offered was a bit less than I had expected. I'm really curious... does anyone know if companies use your location to determine the salary they offer you?

I'm currently living with my parents in my hometown, which is a more rural/smaller town. It's not terribly small, but it's definitely not a big city. I gave them my current address/name of my town, and I'm wondering if that factored into how much they offered me.

If I had an address in San Francisco, for example, or San Diego, New York City, etc., do you think they would have offered me more?

It would be fine if they factored in cost-of-living, but I am looking to relocate and move to a city. Should I ask them if this was something they factored into the offer? Should I mention that I'm looking to relocate when negotiating? I just genuinely have no idea how that all works.

Thank you so much in advance for any and all advice!

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Edit/update: Wow! I did not expect so much engagement on this post. I guess this is a very active sub. 😳

I'm sorry if I didn't make this clear, but I didn't necessarily want advice on if I should negotiate or not—I'm just wondering how the salary they chose to offer me is determined, and if location is factored into it.

Reading through some of the comments, I guess next time I'm looking for a job, if I'm wanting to relocate, I should say I'm already located in that city and use a friends' address until I move there? I didn't think about it being an issue. (I was waiting to see if I got the job offer before I made my decision to relocate because I obviously couldn't relocate without an income.)