Similarly, it's a long road to being a skilled laborer that can pull those large contracts, and even then the margins can be utterly ruthless to small operators.
Just seeking to be realistic - both can be great career paths for the right person.
You don't need to pull in large contracts or even be the business owner of a skilled-trade to do well. Literally every tradesman I speak with is telling me the same thing: we're desperate for bodies; we're willing to hire kids out of high school, train them and pay them > $100K and we still can't fill the seats.
My overall (unpopular point) is that a lot of people are complaining that their high-paid cushy remote job isn't available anymore, while ignoring that there is a huge need for skilled labor in other areas of the economy. This strikes me as a huge opportunity for lots of people, and I don't see it changing anytime soon.
The fine print [0] is more like $92k base plus pension, overtime, medical benefits, and other items that have value, but aren't exactly going into UPS driver pockets.
[0] https://www.distractify.com/p/ups-driver-explains-ups-170k-p...
"front loaded costs" are generally 50-100% of salary. so a fully front loaded worker making $100k would have an extra $50k-$100k in bennies and associated costs on them. that number goes out the window for SWE6 / Director / Executives, but is generally a safe ballpark otherwise.
given that meterstick, the 170 / 92k number makes sense.
For context, keep in mind that the poverty line in San Fran for an individual is $104k
https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/low-income-media....
> San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin counties have each had low-income thresholds greater than $100,000 for a single person since 2021, when the limit for each county increased from $97,600 to $102,450. For the past two years, the number rose to $104,400.