> software engineers on average are only paid a little more than registered nurses and dental hygienists. Software Engineers: ~145k Registered Nurses: ~140k

Don’t recall if they were in the Bay Area or not, but I know someone out in California who is a nurse and wants out because the shear amount of hours they make you work. I suppose many Bay Area engineers may work a lot of extra hours as well, but my understanding was that nursing pay looks much less appealing when you’re working double the standard work week.