The prices shocked him. In his old suburban Boston neighborhood, the average price for a two-bedroom condo was $187,000. Even in upscale Cambridge and Back Bay, a modest two-bedroom condo sells for around $250,000. Of his search in Newport Beach, he says, he just wanted something less than three miles to the beach. "Every place was going for the same price: $399,000," Passerello says. "The normal negotiating price is only 5% off that--and the places I'd looked at were nothing I'd want to take a picture of and brag about."

His new position involves a vertical move, so he's being compensated accordingly; however, there has been no adjustment for cost of living. That's consistent with the salary survey, which indicates that IT managers' median pay in Boston and Los Angeles is the same.

Overall, about half of all IT workers earn bonuses, and about a third are offered stock options. But where you work affects that significantly. Stock options are most common in the IPO-frantic region around San Francisco. There, half of all IT workers reap options--twice the number of those in Philadelphia and Washington. Bonuses are most frequently offered in Dallas and San Francisco, while they are least common in Minneapolis and Los Angeles. In Silicon Valley, for example, stock options are practically assumed--and anyone in IT would be wise to consider a company's stock potential when deciding whether to work there, since small fortunes are won and lost on the value of initial public stock offerings.

The Dallas area appears to be affected by what's happening in Silicon Valley, in part because companies have to compete to keep their workers. "Large public companies like EDS are pushing stock options down lower in the organization, and it's the same for lots of telecom companies," says Jamie Scaff, an analyst at Hewitt Associates, a benefits consulting firm. "Stock is a great retention factor because of vesting. People have to stay three years, not just 18 months--and by then the benefits start to pick up, and employees often feel more a part of the company and are less likely to leave."

In terms of compensation, IT managers and staff, not surprisingly, fared better in larger companies than in their counterparts in startups and smaller companies.

Once again, however, it's not just about money; it's about professional satisfaction and challenge. Is the structure and job specialization offered by a large company most important? Or is the variety and flexibility in a startup more stimulating? It would be misleading to suggest that there is a one-size-fits-all answer. Each IT professional must determine that.

John Winborn, an IS support specialist for baseball's San Francisco Giants, arrived in the Bay area late last month from Dallas. Previously, he worked for systems integrator BancTec Inc. For him, the move to a smaller IT group means greater responsibility and more influence on the outcome. Instead of specializing, Winborn will work on desktop support, special projects, and in-house development.

Most of Winborn's belongings are in storage, and he is living in a small studio apartment until his fiancée joins him in the spring. In this way, he'll get to know the neighborhoods, commuting patterns, and recreation, and--armed with that information--find a more suitable place for the two of them. His best piece of advice for other IT pros: Plan early and plan well. Nonetheless, it's still an upheaval, and moving to a place as expensive as the Bay area involves sticker shock. "It's amazing how much work it is to move out and totally switch cities. You don't think of how much effort it is till you do it," Winborn says. "You run into lots of little things, like gas and parking. I'm used to paying $1.25 for gas--here it's $1.59. It's like, whoa!"

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