Getting close to 200K working full-time as a software engineer is achievable. You need to work hard and I don't mean number of hours but show that your work has an impact in your team and your company. My advice to you is to look for companies in the rise, the ones that are either profitable or are funded and in the tech/internet industry. I am in Austin, TX and this salary is not far from what some companies pay here to their software engineers (HomeAway, RetailMeNot, Tableau, etc...)