TL;DR: I have the best tech (BS Computer Science) job a normal person in a normal city can get with minimal effort (not Stanford, haven't been coding since 12). I work at a top Fortune company. I am financially secure. I can coast to $160K pay by 40. I will never make as much money as a CRNA. I cannot supplement my income like a CRNA can.
I have a BS in Computer Science. I did a traditional 4-year state school degree right out of high school. I have been out of college for 3 years. I am under 25.
However.
I know an accountant that has done several tax returns for CRNAs over the year. Most make between $280K through $400K. Seriously. I have seen the returns myself; I didn't believe him. My family works in healthcare and knows CRNAs who pull in that amount. I'm not going to argue with you. W2 or 1099, salary or contractor, the money is coming in and they are paying taxes on it.
Sure, I could job hop right now. I could switch and make about $110K. (My job is super easy, I'm permanently WFH, and my 401k is not yet fully vested; my boss really likes me; I'm not messing up my super chill gravy train.)
I could job hop again in 2 more years and hit $130K. After that, you're not gonna keep getting those big pay jumps. Not even as a contractor. You would have to be an AI/ML or Big Data developer, and even that will level out in 5 years. Next big jumps come from management positions, or Silicon Valley/Austin/Seattle jobs. The cost of living in those areas will eat up your pay. Pay will not continue to rise quickly above $150K as I get older, my technology specialty becomes less sexy and more common, and more and more people enter tech. Lots of overseas people come over, and eventually they will have stayed long enough to receive US Citizenship and become an equally attractive job candidate compared to you, still willing to accept less money. (No Trumpism here, just facts.)
I have many coworkers that have worked for my gigantic company for 20+ years. I could easily estimate that they make about $160-170K, 6 weeks of paid vacay, amazing stock. My boss prob makes around $220K with crazy stock.
$130K is not a lot of money, don't mean to offend anyone. Not for my life goals, investing, generating passive income, and passing assets on to my kids.
Yep, doing this for the money. I have a 3.7 prereq GPA for a 1.5 year BSN nursing program that I can do while keeping my current job. I received B's in Organic Chem I and II (I started college pre-med). I've been >98th percentile on every standardized test ever taken. I can afford to pay for the second degree with cash from my current job, comfortably. I will switch to nursing, take the moderate pay cut for 2 years, do public CRNA school and take out loans for 50% of it, and still end up making $250K+ by age 32. Conservative estimate.
Anyone who can perform well in the sciences and develop the hands-on skills should be allowed to do this. This isn't bedside care. This is science. You must be smarter than the average RN to do this. Does anyone really grow up knowing what a Nurse Anesthetist is and dream of becoming one? Do most RNs know what one is?
I will never make $250K...$320K...$400K at my Fortune 20 company, especially not by 32, and especially not without kissing major corporate ass and sheer luck of the draw.