It's not a "bit less". A senior engineer in sunnyvale is making 400k+ a year. That's nearly 70% more pay. Assuming 250k is correct, which I'm doubtful of.

I can assure you, that you'd be lucky to be making anything north of 150k. 150 is for principal and above.

Nah, I got an offer letter from Amazon in Berlin, and it was easily 1/10th the compensation they offered to people in NYC or SF (compared with Levels). I made sure with the recruiter that I understood the position and the internal salary ranking--then I told them I would not be taking the position as I found their offer insulting.