The average starting salary that you had quoted for the Northeast (60,000 - 80,000) is for the BASE SALARY. Most of the offers in that range include a bonus structure. As jonwill stated, you may have a starting salary of 65,000 a year and with the bonus structure, one can make over 100,000.
Salary is a complicated issue. Since many factors affect salary, one would see a variety of starting salary averages across the country. You have to look at the medical economics in the area. For example, medical insurance reimbursement in the Northeast are usually pretty bad. In Phildelphia and Southern New Jersey, the insurance carrier that reimburses the physician the most is Medicare. Hence, majority of the insurance in that area reimburses at the same level or less than Medicare. In many of the midwest states, majority of the insurance carriers reimburse more than what Medicare reimburses. Medical malpractice insurance rates also plays a role. Medical malpractice rates in Pennsylvania is so high that Pennsylvania set up a program to help reduce some of the medical malpractice rates to keep physicians from leaving Pennsylvania. If you are in an area where there is a lot of HMO, your starting salary may be lower than the national average. If you join an Orthopedic group or a multispecialty group, your starting salary may be higher. So, there are many factors affecting salaries. To be honest with you, the average starting BASE salary in the PA, NJ, DE, NY, CT, MA is somewhere between 60,000 - 85,000 with a BONUS structure. This is based on average starting base salaries that many of the new DPM practictioners that I know in PA, NJ, NY, DE, CT, MA. Of course, there will be people who start well above that and some well below that. If you are willing to relocate to areas of the country that offer great salaries, then you should not be worrying about salary.
I also agree with Feli in regards to entering DPM or Medicine to make tons of money. If you really want to make a lot of money, you should consider the corporate world and law. My brother in law started at 275,000 a year as a corporate lawyer in NYC. You should enter into DPM or Medicine if you are genuinely interested in the Podiatry profession or any other Medical specialty. If you are genuinely intersted in the Podiatry profession, you will make an adequate salary that allows you to live comfortably.
I don't think that you need to attend a top tier residency program to get a job that pays very well. I graduated from a 3 year surgical program that most of the people has never heard of. However, I am starting above 100,000 a year.
