If these[1] numbers are anywhere near accurate that simply isn't true. Median income is $72,630 and 75th Percentile income is $92,510. So at best you can say that perhaps the 20% highest earning programmers in US make over $100K.

[1] http://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/computer-programme...

Even this only applies to SF and NY, if at all.

I've heard that $100k might not even be typical for the US in general, but for Silicon Valley specifically.(?)

Nope, not remotely true.