Now that I have your attention, I want to point out a couple facts.

1. An entry level programmer is paid no better than an entry level police officer or fireman, and will probably make less when you count overtime and benefits of gov't jobs.

2. A first year lawyer at a top firm like Fenwick will make $160k+$40k bonus his first year, which seems to be roughly the top for a very experienced programmer. Sure there are those few level 6+ at Google that pull in 300k+ total comp, but they are statistically insignificant.

3. Companies like Apple and Google have tens of billions of dollars in cash and make equal amounts in profits every year, largely by exploiting the very high margins they get off of their engineers (see revenue/employee stat compared to total comp stats).

4. Considering the high CoL where we live and work, an average engineer will never be able to afford a decent house and will resort to renting or long commutes. Meanwhile, even below average doctors, average lawyers, cops, firefighters, finance guys, etc will easily be able to afford one.

Are the engineering salaries being deflated by all the H1Bs? Why do engineers put up with this? For the relative value we add, Engineers should start at $120k+30% bonus right out of college and should be making $250-300k base + bonus with 5-10 years of experience. Top engineers should pull 7 digit salaries just like top finance guys.

I'm no top engineer, but I graduated with an M.S. in computer science and my first job in 2011 was at $85,000. Meanwhile a cop with no college degree makes a minimum of $89,000 + overtime: http://www.sf-police.org/index.aspx?page=1655