I didn't say there aren't programmers making $400k or any particular figure. I said it's not common. And I don't think you've written anything here that would c

I didn't say there aren't programmers making $400k or any particular figure. I said it's not common. And I don't think you've written anything here that would convince me that it is common. Could you link to some statistics that show $400k base salaries are common among programmers in the Bay Area in any reasonable sense? If so, then I will completely re-evaluate my stance. My guess is that $400k is about as high as it gets (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong -- with a reliable source, mind you). If we're going to do a fair comparison to doctors, then we need to compare it to a top income for a doctor as well, which is easily in excess of $1M/year.