Considering that you are not (primarily) a software developer, if you are being classified as a software developer in BLS data, the entire dataset is suspect. How many others are misclassified? What should we take from a dataset that is full of known inconsistencies?

> Some jobs require you to learn stuff that's not possible to learn without already having a degree or two's worth of background knowledge.

For instance? I'm honestly just curious about what you think is especially challenging. Everyone seems to have a different opinion about what this means.

> Some jobs require you to learn stuff any high schooler can learn. That is the difference between mid-tech and high-tech!

So do we agree that software development is, on average, mid-tech? And if so, why do we say it requires a degree? The software I was building in that after-school job in high school isn't a whole lot different to the dominant types of projects I see out there today. In my adult career, I've been involved with Silicon Valley startups to Fortune 500s and this seems to be the type of tech work that is most prevalent for software developers.

I'll agree that a small segment of the industry is working on the fringes, doing things that only 10 other people will encounter in their lifetimes. But this is not the typical case that the BLS is drawing their conclusions from. They are looking at the entire industry as a whole.