You are definitely living in a bubble. $40,000 [edit: $50,000k] a year plus benefits straight out of high school, with no experience or education requirements

You are definitely living in a bubble. $40,000 [edit: $50,000k] a year plus benefits straight out of high school, with no experience or education requirements is an awesome job. Sure, these guys have to work occasional 15 hour days, and get up at 4am. But so do many hackers their age, and lawyers and (business) analysts will frequently work 12 hours days regularly for not much more pay. To put it in perspective (rough nationwide averages): teachers routinely make $30,000 starting. Most business majors will make $40k-50k starting as analysts or consultancy associates. Most lawyers will make between $30k-$80k (depending on the state and area of practice) if they can even find a paying job. Even engineers and programmers (as a group) only average $40k-$60k starting (not all STEM grads make as much as programmers).