My working hypothesis is that there's more programmers in the "very good" bucket that don't care all that much about monetary compensation than in other domains. As long as a certain X that is deemed fair is reached they are way more interested in interesting problems/an opportunity to learn new things/access to hardware or data they couldn't otherwise get etc.
Or in other words, (good) programmers care a lot more about motivating factors than hygiene factors than other employees.
I have no data to back this up, only a gut feeling.
I think this is true to at least some degree. I have noticed that the better paying jobs here are Java or Microsoft stacks, probably more corporate style jobs. Personally I prefer working in a smaller place in Python, and feeling genuinely valuable to the company, having done some corporate stints earlier in my career.
Or in other words, (good) programmers care a lot more about motivating factors than hygiene factors than other employees.
I have no data to back this up, only a gut feeling.