That's exactly my point, these salary ranges are "normal" here. For the average developer with little responsibilities in life this may be more than enough. And so goes my theory, but please don't quote me on that: IT workers are undervalued because most of them only need a computer, internet access, a comfortable bed and fast food to live a happy life. And so they just accept whatever they are offered, because they don't need that much money. And why would you pay someone a lot of money to do something he/she loves doing anyway? We are being exploited in my opinion. CS is no simple stuff and not everyone is capable of working in that field.