How much of a factor should location be in a job in robotics?
Hey Reddit Fam!
Cutting to the chase, how important a factor is location to you when you choose a job in the current Robotics / AI market? Specifically, if it's your first job as a bachelor out of grad school.
Say, comparing the general Bay Area with other locations in the USA. In your opinion, does the scale swing significantly if it's San Francisco vs any other city in the USA?
For context, I'm trying to compare two offers wherein the work and mentorship aside, in terms of compensation, both offers are from late-stage startups and are similar in the total package, but one is based in SF and the other is not in the Bay. A few things that set the bells ringing in my head about this dilemma are that it will a) take longer to repay my h u g e student loan (😞) and b) the H1-B lottery would be way more competitive in the Bay for a given base comp.
TL;DR : When choosing your next job in Robotics, what % of weight would you give to location? Would you value living in SF any more than living in any other region of the Bay for a fairly modest base salary?
TIA \:))