Ah. The reason I said "you specifically" is because I believe it would be possible but would be hard to gauge without more information, like your resume and an interview. 6.5 years experience sounds more than reasonable to get into that position if you are a good performer. Which, for all the information you've given, seems to be the case.

Sure, but we're changing the topic of discussion and digressing for absolutely no reason. I don't understand why you moved the conversation from talking about potential career path pitfalls for Software Engineers, to the merits of my abilities, my promotion, and the company I work for. But either way, let's get away from this digression and back on topic.

There are some questions I would ask you: If you didn't get a title or salary increase, would you rather code or people manage?

I answered this in my OP. I would rather code, at least in the foreseeable future. The lack of salary increase/promotion is the dilemma here, which was the original question of my post I was trying to address...

Would you be willing to find a new job if they forced you to management at this company?

They won't force me. I was given the option. And as presented in my OP, it's not much of an option, because this the only career path here. And again, they are giving the decision to me to make.

Keep in mind that only you can decide for yourself what you want to do. But if you are a skilled engineer then you really have all the cards in your hand. You can always go somewhere else.

Which again, in my OP, I had already addressed "without any career path/growth at my current company. im not sure if other companies are different". The question remains: are non-management technical positions that goes higher than Lead SWE a rare thing? And if so, at what point do you absolutely need to become a manager to continue up the ladder.