You did leave out nursing. https://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/registered-nurse/salary https://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/registered-nurse/...

You did leave out nursing. https://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/registered-nurse/salary https://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/registered-nurse/... Interestingly, nursing salaries are very high in San Francisco - avg salary is $136,610 a year. This is for registered nurses. Software developers make more money on average than nurses https://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/software-developer/salary https://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/software-develope... However, interestingly, in top paying cities, the BLS data (which this is based on) has them earning a bit less than registered nurses, though I'm not sure if this includes variable pay. There are a lot of factors here that prevent an apples-to-apples comparison. Anyone can declare him or herself to be a software developer, whereas it is illegal to do this if you're a registered nurse without formal credentials (actually, take a look at most "top jobs" and you'll find software developer is somewhat rare in that it requires no formal credential). At the same time, people with advanced degrees in nursing typically earn more than registered nurses and don't show up in the stats, whereas people with grad degrees in STEM fields may hold the title "software developer". Nursing is also a tough field, but I do think there is more job stability and less age discrimination. Overall, there's plenty to recommend it. A programmer myself, I'd be very happy if my son or daughter expressed a greater interest in nursing than programming, though I certainly wouldn't discourage them in either case. One thing that I always feel strange about here is that I don't consider software development to be as attractive as many people here do... that may not be a coincidence. The images in this essay may explain why - even the positive one, that shows a better than average breakdown at google, doesn't contain anyone near my age (how many people in that picture do you think need to leave by 5pm to pick their kids up from daycare?). My life experience has taught the value of longevity in a career choice, and software has some really serious shortcomings.