@deshipu Main factor in determining salaries is HR departments doing salary surveys to see what other people are paying. Then they list the job and see if they get any takers.
Once someone has a job, it costs $50,000+ to fire them and replace them. It costs me $25,000-$2,000,000 to move to a CA. So the performance-pay link is not gone, but not especially strong. Moving to California with their RE costs would be ruinous, but pay is higher there.