A lot more than you'd think, after a few years of experience. 130k with benefits is par for the course in St.Louis for a full benefits senior programmer. Contracting, you can get way more: I reached the cap in August last year.

In the Bay Area, if you don't make that kind of money, you better be living in company housing, or you will have trouble renting a closet by yourself.

So yes, enough programmers make more than 120k for the payroll tax to be the same regardless.