&gt; out-of-college salaries for programming are often better than virtually everything else (notably, banking and consulting); but after ten years, the opposite is relationship is reversed (considerably so)<p>Don&#x27;t forget that there is huge flight from banking and consulting, but much less so for programming.  Of 10 people who start as bankers or consultants, 80% will likely leave the industry within 5 years, and 90% within 10 years.  So, in a way you&#x27;re comparing the salary growth of a median programmer to the salary growth of a top 5-10% banker.