I'll share my experience here for anyone who's considering the tradeoffs. It's harder without a degree, especially getting the first job. And your jobs might p

I'll share my experience here for anyone who's considering the tradeoffs. It's harder without a degree, especially getting the first job. And your jobs might pay less in the beginning (mine did not, but that might not apply to everyone.) After that it gets easier, but even now in my mid thirties I get turned down because of that - but it doesn't bother me much. There's a lot of developer jobs out there and I still end up getting to pick among several. I was making six figures by my second job, but I have no idea how common that is. A degree costs a lot of money and 4 years of your time. You should give that a good hard look, because if you're dedicated and you love the work you can progress much faster on your own and it won't cost you anything - in fact you will likely earn a lot of money during that time. If you prefer to veg out after work every day with your choice of drug or tv, forget it. You're going to need all the help you can get, go for the degree. If you're going to put in the time and effort you'll quickly surpass your peers and get the best jobs - with or without degree. But the biggest thing I did for my career was move to Panama where there's no tax on foreign income. I worked five years in a remote job and paid off my mortgage.