You dropped off the "non" part of that. It's the non-Unicorn software companies easily paying $120k for a seasoned software developer in the US.
Also, I noticed where our sources diverged. I was looking at household income. My bad.
> which is already way above even the EU for dev salaries
Maybe they're underpaid.
Either way, I was responding to the idea that only a FAANG salary would cost an employer $20k/mo. For US software developer jobs, it can easily hit that without being in FAANG-tier or unicorn startup level companies. Tons of mid-sized low-key software companies you've never heard of pay $120k+ for software devs in the US.
The median software developer in Texas makes >$130k/yr. Think that's all just Facebook and Apple and silicon valley VC funded startup software devs? Similar story in Ohio, is that a place loaded with unicorn software startups? Those median salaries in those markets probably cost their employer around $20k/mo.
Tons of software developer jobs in the US for non-FAANG tier or unicorn startup companies are >$100k and easily hit $120-150k.
Also the fourth quintile mean was like $120k in the US in 2022. So you'd be in the top 30% of earners making that kind of money, not the top 10%.
https://taxpolicycenter.org/statistics/household-income-quin...