The high end firms in Silicon Valley (Google, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, Linkedin, Netflix) do make this, in part because the cost of living is brutal there and the competition is fierce.

But you need to factor in the cost of living in comparison to the offered salary to compare with other cities.

Some friends who went to work in Silicon Valley are making +$200K (some well above) but have had problems finding houses in good neighborhoods to raise families.

Basically it isn't affordable to live around there, even if you make +$200K USD. In part this is because the medium house price in Silicon Valley is apparently $2.6M http://www.businessinsider.com/silicon-valley-palo-alto-2016...

In Ottawa, Canada a great house (better than average) in a new suburb would be in the $350K USD range.