(36 now) At 24 I had my first real programming job and the salary was on par with it. I wasn't truly happy with my salary until 3 years ago and my current job of 2 years has made it really hard to look for something else (love my job / salary). There was about 8 years in there that I stayed at a job because I thought it would become more but didn't (and the pay barely changed). I learned a lot at that job, furthering my career, but the pay was poor for the work.