4.5 the median would be somewhere around $225,000. That would be a very high salary for a developer, far above the median. I also don't think that comparing t

4.5 the median would be somewhere around $225,000. That would be a very high salary for a developer, far above the median. I also don't think that comparing to the median US household makes much sense. It would make more sense to compare salaries with other highly skilled and educated workers in very high cost areas. It's sobering to enter the "elevated" salaries of software developers into a housing affordability calculator and search San Francisco or the peninsula for what you could buy at that price. Most households are dual income now, which does get you in the range of that 4.5x household income you mentioned earlier. At this point, you're into pleasant, middle class areas. At this point, I guess it's just a matter of opinion. I think that when it's a stretch for two highly educated workers to afford a fairly ordinary house in a decent if unfashionable part of town, salaries aren't elevated to the point where I find claims of a crucial shortage credible. If that's what employers want to pay, that's fine, but I see no reason for special government programs designed to increase the size of this workforce - it would seem to me that it is responding rationally to market signals.