The income math on doing a CS PhD if you already have a bachelor's I think fairly strongly argues against it. The salary differential for a PhD just doesn't ma

The income math on doing a CS PhD if you already have a bachelor's I think fairly strongly argues against it. The salary differential for a PhD just doesn't make up for losing out on six years of high paying work. The major exceptions are (right now) an ML PhD, which is highly sought after. Also, if you want to do government/defense work, the PhD is very useful. On the other hand, if you are a foreigner, it's pretty hard to break into the U.S. IT job market. H1Bs are scarce. If you can get accepted into a U.S. PhD program though, you get a well recognized credential, and you get a year of OPT and it's easier to get an H1B after that (or at least it was -- I know a lot of this is changing). You also get six years to improve your English. Even if you return to your home country, the U.S. PhD is likely to open many doors.