Software Engineer: Still the Best Job in America?

This article from Money Magazine last year suggest that Software Engineer is the best job in America! I wonder if this is still the case because it doesn't seem like much has changed in the last year.


"Software engineers are needed in virtually every part of the economy, making this one of the fastest-growing job titles in the U.S. Even so, it's not for everybody.

Designing, developing and testing computer programs requires some pretty advanced math skills and creative problem-solving ability. If you've got them, though, you can work and live where you want: Telecommuting is quickly becoming widespread.

The profession skews young -- the up-all-night-coding thing gets tired -- but consulting and management positions aren't hard to come by once you're experienced."


Salary.com has an interesting bell shapped curve (see above) that shows a variety of figures of an entry level software engineer. Visting the site you can adjust your grade and input your zip code to figure out where you fit in.

It may even get better for telecommuters. The other day I came across the recently introduced Parents' Tax Relief Act of 2007. This suggests a vastly simplified home office deduction ($2,500 or the profit from the home - based business, whichever is less) and a telecommuting tax credit for employers of up to $2,400 per telecommuter. In addition, employers that provide telecommuters with computers and broadband access equipment can write off the expense. If it passes, this bill may make telecommuting more attractive to employers.

The only thing I'd say that sucks about being a software engineer is the 'occasional' long hours and the stress that comes around release time. What do you think, is it the "best job in America?"