Programming is a dead-end. I started out when there was a high demand for highly-skilled programmers. Nowadays you can find programmers under the stones, all equally unskilled at making good code. But here’s the clincher: nobody cares about good code anymore. All companies want is cheap-cheap-cheap. - unless you work in highly specialized fields like aeronauttics, in which case you need a college degree or two, or many years of relevant work experience.
What I’m getting at is, unskilled programmers without a college degree are outsourced to India, and even those jobs are on the chop with the rise of AI.
Tell you what: if you want a job to make great money without a degree, go into quality assurance: there’s literally no school for that, it’s all work experience, and it’s really not difficult. FInd a job as a QC engineer, then move up to QA, get certifications paid for by your employers along the way and after a few years, the money will flow in like no tomorrow. And if your areas of expertise are specialized enough in QA, you’ll never need to look for a job ever again in your life.