Heh, I know the Texans are offended but I neither live/work in NYC nor is my rent anywhere near $3000. I'll present an olive branch and say Texas BBQ > KC or Carolina
Haha all in good fun. I'm neither from TX nor NYC--but have lived in both. Let's face it: NYC has amazing culture and incredible firms with horrendous traffic, small spaces, high billables and high expenses. TX has friendly people and low costs with sub-par culture (outside of Austin), energy-focused work, and certain irksome socio-political views. It is a wash. You pick what you pick.
In response to the minority that TX offices won't increase bonus--I've always seen justified push-back to that argument. Firms (e.g. Skadden) are simply not going to peg salary to COL for DC, SV, Chicago, Houston, etc. (unlike the lowly CovingTTTon). We've already seen 4-5 firms with TX offices commit to the $180K salary and the Texas Big 3 will do so to remain respectable and because they are able.
First, costs (e.g., business rental space) are lower in the secondary markets and thus provide some space for increased salaries. Second, firms will continue to attempt to make up some of the high-COL in NYC with larger bonuses. Third, the fact that an associate's rent is so much higher in NYC does not necessarily mean such associate should lament the salary--it means the associate should lament his/her choice to stay in NYC. Lastly, the Big 3 Texas firms are competing for national talent and salary is an incredibly important selling point. The matched salaries in TX are largely what made me move here. A $20K-$30K difference between TX and the NYC/SF markets might have caused me to swing the other way. Similarly, a $20-$30K uptick in my third-market home town likely would have pushed me back there.
Money matters and if TX wants to continue recruiting from top-tier schools they'll need to match.
