Either you are in a particularly underpaid/oversupplied field, or DC is the solution to startup hiring. If there are a substantial number of available "senior developers" in anything useful to Silicon Valley in DC for <$75k/yr, it would be worthwhile to set up a Northern Virginia tech center.
The only tech company I know which has a substantial number of cleared people, a presence in DC, and is a startup, is Palantir, and there's no appreciable pay difference between Palo Alto and DC. New grads are effectively capped around $127k, but most take around $80k and more equity. It's also an excellent place to work.
The only tech company I know which has a substantial number of cleared people, a presence in DC, and is a startup, is Palantir, and there's no appreciable pay difference between Palo Alto and DC. New grads are effectively capped around $127k, but most take around $80k and more equity. It's also an excellent place to work.