These jobs aren't well paid, because they're usually nothing but a cost to the business. Well paid software is usually where the software is the product, or directly enables income, so is seen as an investment not just a necessary cost.
https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Software_Developer/... https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEPAINUSA672N
Too often on HN we focus on and glamourize the flashy Silicon Valley jobs and we think this is what our industry looks like. It doesn't. The Google, Facebook, and Amazon of the world are the 95th-99th percentile jobs, the very top of our industry in terms of salary and prestige. They do not represent the typical software developer.
Google maintains a large array of line-of-business apps. You probably have one open in another tab right now. Email, calendar, others. In these cases, the software (or software as a service) is the product, it's just not a direct-to-consumer product.