There's a lot more to a total comp package than just straight salary. I'm probably an outlier on HN as a .Net dev in finance in NYC. I was making ~250k as a freelancer but went perm. I now make ~200-220k after bonus but I now have a gold-plated health plan, 5 weeks vacation, a retirement plan and a training budget. It isn't always about straight up cash.
It's not about cash, but you sure do make a lot of it. I don't think this is necessarily an outlier. It's just that other developers don't know it's possible.
The problem with the US work culture vs somewhere like Europe is that talking about your salary is so taboo. And it shouldn't be. What's wrong with compensating people who are comparable in skills and execution fairly?
When I said outlier, I actually meant the type of work I do. From the discussions here, most people don't do enterprise software development and especially non-web development. I'm pretty sure there are developers that make a lot more than I do but yes, I agree that I do make a lot of it and am grateful for that.
I also agree with you on the whole culture around not discussing your salary. I've worked in other countries and it's a normal question a friend/colleague would ask.
