Seems the pay is very different and thus is absolutely playing a role in the decision?

800k at the low end? Big tech pays well, but that sort of comp is reserved for very senior folks.

Where do I get this cool exciting and meaningful science job paying $200k?

This is my experience too. I actually briefly took the cool exciting climate change related science job and then realized that I couldn’t actually support my family’s lifestyle on $160k so I left and went back to surveillance capitalism. I do feel guilt about that decision, but I like to imagine I’ll be able to go back to working on interesting and ethical things after my kids are out of the house.