Why are there still so many game studios in California?

[Slimebeast]

sethnintendo said:
@slimebeast, cost of living varies a lot depending on the state and city. It even varies a lot between cities in the same state. A gallon of gasoline may cost 2.50 in Texas but it cost around 4.00 in Cali. Cali is one of the most taxed states so the cost of living is very high there.

nordlead said:

Slimebeast said:

twesterm said:

So I was reading this morning about one of the reasons Pandemic was closed was due to SoCal's cost of living/development and that got me thinking-- why are there still so many game development studios in California?

The only two reasons I can come up with are that they are already there and there are already so many people there.  Other than that though, I can't come up with anything.

Just think about it, salaries in Texas are probably about $20-30k a year less than a California salary. 

How can that be??

I fought the US had a unified economy.

It is a unified economy, but people get paid different rates living in different areas.

For example, In Syracuse NY area, a 2000 sq ft house will run you 170k-220k (just an average) yet the same house in certain areas of New Jersey can easily run for 700k-1m. Since owning a house and other goods are a lot more expensive in NJ than Sryracuse NY, the companies must pay their employees more to be willing to live in the area. If it wasn't for the high taxes in NY, moving to Syracuse would be a great idea for a lot businesses since they can pay their employees so much less. Buying land in this area is a lot cheaper too.

Yes, but price difference in cost of living is like that all over the world, here in Sweden too. A house in rural areas cost almost nothing and while in big cities all housing is very expensive. Still, in Western Europe salaries aren't adapted to differences in cost of living. In Sweden you get paid the same in pricey Stockholm as in cheap villages.