Poll: How much do you make as a programmer?

#1

Post by almightygod » Thu, Jul 14, 2011, 5:19 PM UTC

There is a trending item (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2763280) about how stack exchange pays it's developers. I found it interesting their top end is 200K. I suspect most people don't get paid near this much but more should.

How much do you make yearly as a salaried programmer? (no contractors)

UPDATE: This survey has been scrutinized as too simplistic. I think it adds value but I have also created a richer survey here (https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dGFfZ1NuSXZ3WHNibmF5Rk5OSWxTekE6MQ)

The anonymous results will be shared on HN in a few days w/analysis.

Re: Poll: How much do you make as a programmer?

#2

Post by bartonfink » Thu, Jul 14, 2011, 5:22 PM UTC

Again, this doesn't make a tremendous amount of sense without location data. I'm voting with my salary adjusted to San Francisco levels by using the following adjustment tool:

http://www.bestplaces.net/col/

I'd recommend that people do the same so we can remove a substantial source of noise from this poll and actually get a meaningful distribution.

Re: Poll: How much do you make as a programmer?

#3

Post by skarayan » Thu, Jul 14, 2011, 5:31 PM UTC

It depends a lot on the domain and your expertise of the business overall. For example, working for a non-profit is completely different than working on trading algorithms for a hot hedge fund where you also partake in creating the algos.

Re: Poll: How much do you make as a programmer?

#4

Post by almightygod » Thu, Jul 14, 2011, 5:32 PM UTC

skarayan wrote: post #3

It depends a lot on the domain and your expertise of the business overall. For example, working for a non-profit is completely different than working on trading algorithms for a hot hedge fund where you also partake in creating the algos.

The domain/work/location doesn't change the fact of how much you get paid...just the justification for why it is a particular amount.

Re: Poll: How much do you make as a programmer?

#5

Post by almightygod » Thu, Jul 14, 2011, 5:33 PM UTC

bartonfink wrote: post #2

Again, this doesn't make a tremendous amount of sense without location data. I'm voting with my salary adjusted to San Francisco levels by using the following adjustment tool: http://www.bestplaces.net/col/ I'd recommend that people do the same so we can remove a substantial source of noise from this poll and actually get a meaningful distribution.

I'm not sure that is accurate. To my surprise...my NYC salary of $176,000 adjusted to San Francisco should be $217,151

Is SF really more expensive then NYC?

Re: Poll: How much do you make as a programmer?

#6

Post by skarayan » Thu, Jul 14, 2011, 5:36 PM UTC

almightygod wrote: post #4

skarayan wrote: post #3

It depends a lot on the domain and your expertise of the business overall. For example, working for a non-profit is completely different than working on trading algorithms for a hot hedge fund where you also partake in creating the algos.

The domain/work/location doesn't change the fact of how much you get paid...just the justification for why it is a particular amount.

I just don't think that comparing programmer salaries across the board makes much sense because of the different domains. Understanding the domain is often more difficult than understanding the programming language.

Re: Poll: How much do you make as a programmer?

#7

Post by bartonfink » Thu, Jul 14, 2011, 5:36 PM UTC

almightygod wrote: post #5

bartonfink wrote: post #2

Again, this doesn't make a tremendous amount of sense without location data. I'm voting with my salary adjusted to San Francisco levels by using the following adjustment tool: http://www.bestplaces.net/col/ I'd recommend that people do the same so we can remove a substantial source of noise from this poll and actually get a meaningful distribution.

I'm not sure that is accurate. To my surprise...my NYC salary of $176,000 adjusted to San Francisco should be $217,151 Is SF really more expensive then NYC?

I'm not sure - never lived in either place. I'm not particularly tied to that calculator, it just came up first in a Google search. I do, however, think it's important to remove the location parameter from the salary function as best as we can. Otherwise the distribution of results is meaningless.

Re: Poll: How much do you make as a programmer?

#8

Post by spottiness » Thu, Jul 14, 2011, 5:45 PM UTC

bartonfink wrote: post #2

Again, this doesn't make a tremendous amount of sense without location data. I'm voting with my salary adjusted to San Francisco levels by using the following adjustment tool: http://www.bestplaces.net/col/ I'd recommend that people do the same so we can remove a substantial source of noise from this poll and actually get a meaningful distribution.

If we do that then we would be trusting that tool, which doesn't look right to me. (I don't think that SF is 138% more expensive than Miami, FL.) Let's put whatever we make, knowing that it's just an approximation.

By the way, I'd rather live in an expensive city making proportionally more money, because my savings would also be proportionally larger, and when you're buying a plane ticket to Europe online or a pair of shoes at Zappos, they don't check your zip code to give you a price.

Re: Poll: How much do you make as a programmer?

#9

Post by mbesto » Thu, Jul 14, 2011, 5:51 PM UTC

almightygod wrote: post #5

bartonfink wrote: post #2

Again, this doesn't make a tremendous amount of sense without location data. I'm voting with my salary adjusted to San Francisco levels by using the following adjustment tool: http://www.bestplaces.net/col/ I'd recommend that people do the same so we can remove a substantial source of noise from this poll and actually get a meaningful distribution.

I'm not sure that is accurate. To my surprise...my NYC salary of $176,000 adjusted to San Francisco should be $217,151 Is SF really more expensive then NYC?

Depends on where you live in NYC. Average salary in Manhattan is $120k.

Re: Poll: How much do you make as a programmer?

#10

Post by lutorm » Thu, Jul 14, 2011, 5:51 PM UTC

Though I'm not really a programmer but a researcher, I voted anyway since, in practice, most of my work is programming. It probably just makes me an underpaid programmer... ;-)