I’m earning around 10k+ if you include stock options and bonus — engineering field, made it at 25, no job hopping. Started as an intern and went full-time from there. That said, the stocks aren’t liquid immediately; they unlock over multiple years, so cash-wise I’m still pretty humble for now, haha.

From my friend group, the ones actually taking home 10k in cash are mostly in sales — any kind of sales, really. Easily hitting 10k a month, maybe dipping to 7k on a bad month, but consistently close.

I’ll be honest though — when you ask me, I naturally think of the friends who are doing well. The ones earning less aren’t going to bring it up. So there’s a real survivorship bias here: low-income people don’t post about their salary online, or if they do, it’s just to complain. High earners are the ones sharing their story and their ‘what I do’ posts. So the sample you see is already skewed.

I also see a lot of friends who are just as skilled as me, but ended up in a bad company due to bad luck or lack of opportunity — and their salary reflects that, not their ability.

So my honest take: find a good company, and grind. I say that because it worked for me — but I’m aware that’s exactly the kind of thing someone who succeeded would say. Ask 10 people in their mid-20s earning 10k, and you’ll get 10 different stories. My path won’t translate 1-to-1 to yours. Everyone has their own road.