If you're after money, there's always money in the banana stand.

Mobile Application Development is a programming field that is blowing up and offers nice compensation.
You can make $70k+/yr almost anywhere as a programmer if you have a solid skill-set.
If you're looking for 6 digits or more you best have a really good resume, find a really good niche, or be prepared to move into management.

This post was edited by grievance on Jun 25 2014 02:24pm

i'm not super familiar with careers/salaries. my understanding is the job titles are roughly like so in georgia:
junior (50s-60s) -> mid (70s-80s) -> senior (90s-100s) -> lead (100+)

then architect is half management half technical, and then you have to make a choice: become a contractor to stay technical (charge 70-150$/hr) or move to management (manager -> director -> vp if you're good)

and of course california and other inflated areas are higher.

This post was edited by carteblanche on Jun 25 2014 04:53pm

California has a 72k/year average for students their first year out of college (BS). I went into database systems and it has been very good to me. After you have a CS degree, you should work with what you like. We are in such high demand, you can find a way to make good money doing almost anything. Starting your own business is also a good route if you have a good idea and are willing to work a lot to get it off the ground.