katrina, 60K in houston is a lot of money (O:. for 5 yrs exp. its preety on par. as you know TX has no state tax. plus cost of living housing is less as well. add on top of that no property tax et al. if you compare that 60k in tx to east coast.. comparable would be around 80k for 5 yrs experience that's a relatively good money. but now getting back to being real and reality. 5 yrs experience puts you in a senior level so of course if you change your job now you would get in probably 96k in eas coast. i.e. considering 20% salary jump when you change jobs. which is preety obvious and acceptable. so 6 figures after 5 years of experience NOT A BIG DEAL. BUT 2 YRS EXPERIENCE very good DEAL. now common javabeans. that is possible. i.e. one can change job and get 6 figures if he/she has 5 years experience. BUT 2 YEARS not IMPOSSIBLE but very RARE. ==================================================== as always what do i know (O: