If you’re talking about programming... the reason programmers (of a certain sort) are paid a lot in the Bay Area is not because they are vastly “higher” skilled than other people. The average chef in the Bay Area is WAY more skilled than all but the most skilled coders.

There are two reasons why programmers (of a certain sort) make so much money:

1) It’s an area of speculation, how much revenue can such people produce? Because it’s well known that some white male programmers will make a fuckton of revenue happen, the rest of us get higher wages in the “glow” of that.

There’s not a cultural belief among capitalists that black women programmers, or talented chefs, are making “unicorn money” happen so there’s no glow there.

2) There are a ton of programmers who won a lottery of having that skill in a time when it was going to make you rich. That’s no longer true, there is more competition now and just being a coder in a position of privilege is not enough.... but there are now a big number of rich white male programmers in the Bay Area who are trying to “do it again” and so they are showering money on other programmers who remind them of themselves.

It’s a halo of money. It will disappear soon. It’s not based on skill. If you’re making it—good job... get that money. You may even be highly skilled, in which case—good job. That’s impressive. But don’t think your skills have anything to do with why other people aren’t making the same money as you.