Pay differences: Same job, 10 different cities

With salaries and benefits being at the forefront of negotiations between our local governmental bodies and the various labor unions to which most of our city, county and school district employees belong, and since so many in the community are discussing the wages and benefits earned by public sector employees, the following article might be of interest to you...
http://money.cnn.com/2006/09/14/pf/mercer_pay_differences/index.htm

According to the above piece at www.Money.cnn.com, "The cost of living and the cost of labor vary from city to city, so it's no surprise that a company may pay different amounts for the same position depending on where it's located." The writer is correct in that this probably isn't much of a surprise to most of us. But the article goes on to say that "in theory, a higher salary in one city may be expected to afford the job-holder the same quality of life as she could expect in the same position in a less expensive city. But it often doesn't due to the effect of taxes and local inflation rates."

You can also find out what and where some of the top-paying 6-figure jobs are by going to http://money.cnn.com/2006/07/13/pf/six_fig_farthest/index.htm?postversion=2006071410 and learn if you're being paid what you're worth by visiting http://money.cnn.com/2006/04/03/commentary/everyday/sahadi/index.htm?postversion=2006040317.