Glassdoor isn't a great microscope. Do you notice "6 samples" for "Researcher Phd"? And how many of them are doing research relevant to the software industry? A

Glassdoor isn't a great microscope. Do you notice "6 samples" for "Researcher Phd"? And how many of them are doing research relevant to the software industry? Also, the "Software Engineer I" is not reflective of average entry-level salary, it's reflective of everyone reporting with that title, many of whom have worked for many years as developers. And a Ph.D. is not just a vanilla qualification to the extent that an undergraduate degree is. There are plenty of worthless and failed Ph.D's out there. Institutional affiliation and prestige and network of the PI matters even more. It's not a golden ticket, and most people can't simply succeed in a Ph.D. program and make it pay off, but there are plenty of folks with extremely lucrative research careers, which they simply could not have achieved without the credential and connections they got from their Ph.D. program. Could they have succeeded in something else? Maybe, maybe not, but you could say that about any career choice. Computer science Ph.D's can also often negotiate substantial consulting income on the side in addition to their stipends or fellowships. Another bonus about research is that the really good jobs are not chained to the Bay area. Government contract money is diligently spread across all 50 states. So you can start with that six figure salary somewhere outside SF/NYC/Redmond where it goes a hell of a lot further.