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Comment by test1235 | Hacker News Reader

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test1235·

$5K a week? That's about a quarter of a million a year ... is that a typical US salary?

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No, not even for software developers.

Median household income in 2020 in the US was about $62k. Average was almost $88k.

It might be the average though for people who create projects people are willing to pay $5000 or more for.

Maybe. That group is still probably 0.01% of the US.

No, it's about 5x a typical US salary.

It’s typical tech salary for people with ~5+ years of experience doing something interesting.

Maybe in a few tech/expensive areas of the country, but not for the average dev with way more than 5+ yrs in the average US.

Of course not the average dev. But once you are good at a niche topic, it is definitely the case.

Is it really or is it just in the SV bubble? Or is this a case of "it's not interesting if it's not in SV"?

Sometimes reading HN gives me the feeling that there is no "tech" other than FAANG in the US. Or somehow every little "tech" company is just making FU money, which sounds hard to believe.

No it's not [0]. I know HN is a bubble, a rich and successful one, but it's crazy how detached from reality some comments are. It borders between an extreme 'fake it till you make it' mentality and sheer trolling.

For reference, in my G7 country $5k are 3 to 4 months wage.

[0] https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LEU0254530600A

> Or is this a case of "it's not interesting if it's not in SV"

This is a case of "get deep knowledge about something which can not be replicated by googling your way out". Become a recognized expert in compilers, OS internals, or similar areas and suddenly you get $250-300k anywhere in US/Canada. Europe tech salaries are much lower.

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