I see this alot. Has always struck me as very unfair.

it is unfair, but it's very common.

also, we are very hypocritical about it. When it is about india etc, we (us and western europe) think it's normal to pay less, but when it's about different regions within our own countries, we think it's unfair.

In an ideal world, we would pay everyone based on role and output, but this is not how the world economy works at the moment. Dont ask me to explain, because I also dont know all the details, but it is reality

I'm in a company that doesn't do this—everyone gets paid the same amount, which is way above average for most of the country—and some of the Californians are actively lobbying for location-based pay.

I don't think they realize that they're actually lobbying for most of the company to get a pay cut so they can get a greater percentage of the total salary budget, but that's what it would amount to if they got their way.

They expect you to compete with nearby employers. If not, you should hire from less active markets and probably go more remote.

The company is fully remote and only a tiny fraction of us live in CA. Most are distributed throughout the lower-density regions of the country and are very happy with our pay rates.

most are