The US median household income is ~$50k/year, while the US median personal income is ~$35k/year. The average Bay Area software engineer earns ~$100k/year, whic

The US median household income is ~$50k/year, while the US median personal income is ~$35k/year. The average Bay Area software engineer earns ~$100k/year, which is above the 90th percentile of US personal income... ...and if you want to talk global, $100k/year is beyond the wildest dreams of most everyone on Earth. (For that matter, so is starting a capital-intensive business.) You can probably see where this perception comes from.