Seattle. At my last 3 jobs, I made $135k, then $110k, then $90k, in that order, as both my skills and the profile/prestige of the products increased.
As executive salaries soar, the workers that produce the real value in a company are being gouged.
The problem being made worse by under-qualified people entering the workforce. To technically illiterate managers, all they see is that these people are prepared to work for lower salaries. The fact that they haven't got the experience, education, aptitude; and can't produce to the desired levels is not understood. As a result the technical management are hauled over coals for failing to meet budgets and deadlines that they had no say in setting.
Were the hours better, was the work more interesting, did you not have a choice or was there another factor at play?