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Poll: How much do you make as a programmer?

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

#151

Post by aidenn0 »

darklajid wrote: post #108
DougWebb wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We work many more hours and we have to pay more for benefits like health care. Most other medical costs are higher here too; drugs are a lot more expensive in the US than the rest of the world, because the drug companies fold the research and testing costs into our prices, and only include manufacturing and distribution costs in the rest of the world's pricing. Cars might be cheaper here, and gas certainly is, but we…

Erm.. I'm certainly no expert, but 'we have to pay more for benefits like health care' should be somewhat qualified. In DE half of the (state based. There's a 'I don't want to be part of the general system' option that works slightly different) health care is payed by your employer, half is deducted from your salary. It's a percentage of your income. Next thing that kind of trips me here is that I'm pretty sure that…

Marginal tax rate for me is around that (including California state tax) and likewise that doesn't include the Social-security and medicare.

Also, we have very limited safety net for retirement, so figure another 10% (or so) going to retirement savings. With my 401(k) contributions, my paycheck is almost exactly 1/2 of my gross pay.

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

#152

Post by jgmmo »

zmj wrote: post #110
kingofspain wrote: post #70

This has got me thinking. I would literally pay someone to figuratively sit down with me, go through what I've done/can do etc and then based off their experiences tell me what I could be getting. Of course, it won't be too accurate and location makes a big difference but perhaps an enlightened recruiter type with a bit of experience in a couple of parts of the world could give a ballpark figure, say X in SV, Y in NY…

You're making a mistake in thinking that there is an objective value that you can apply to yourself. It's not you.value, it's you.valueTo(other,now).

This. Prices only exist within a certain place and time.

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

#153

Post by jquery »

posabsolute wrote: post #74

Front-end dev, Just below 60, I got the feeling taht even for back-end salary are much lower in Canada

Given equal talent and level of skill, do backend developers really make more than frontend? I used to think this, but now I think there are simply a lot more marginal programmers doing frontend programming (ease of entry) that bring the average down. My company recently bumped up the referral bonus for frontend developers to $10k, twice as high as the referral rate for developers in general.

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

#154

Post by sshumaker »

jaxn wrote: post #16

If you look at how salaries are distributed across the US public, the 60k - 100k category is way too large while 151k-200k should probably be just one range and not two. As someone who hires programmers, I am much more interested in how many people make between 60-70, 70-85, and 85-100.

Interesting. When doing hiring, I've always mentally divided developers into different categories than you've been suggesting: - 65k (entry-level) - under 100k (intermediate, or junior with a lot of promise) - 100-125 - most of my hires have been in this range - mid-level, talented, solid programmers - 150k+ - 'lead' / superstar level. It's very rare to find candidates that meet this level.

Beyond 150-200k range, most of the compensation tends to come from bonuses, stock, and options - which can vastly exceed base salary.

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

#156

Post by nl »

code_devil wrote: post #50
almightygod wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it adds value but I have also created a richer survey here ( https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey... ) The raw anonymous results will be shared on HN in a few days w/analysis.

You might want to add "Technology/Industry" like Web Companies(FB,Twitter), App Companies(Built on Top of FB, Twitter), Mobile Companies, Networking (Cisco, Juniper), DB/related (Oracle), OS(Apple, MSFT). I "get" the feeling that programmers in Web technologies get paid less than people in hardware/appliance companies like Cisco, Juniper, NetApp etc. Edit: Just noticed the Industry Option :)

Hardware (as in embedded programming) actually pays pretty badly compared to web programming (although I expect Cisco/Juniper are exceptions).

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

#158

Post by irfinlay »

Timothee wrote: post #138

From the author of the poll further down: my NYC salary of $176,000 That explains (to me) a lot the choice of ranges for the poll. $176k seems to be on the high-end worldwide. Overall, because of the buckets and the problem with the wide variations over location, the results will be mostly useless. However, it's still getting upvotes (though much less than actual votes on the poll), most probably because of the fact…

I made the mistake of sharing my salary with a colleague many years ago - I was making almost 2x their salary with similar time and experience but was considered "high potential" ... I have not discussed salary since.

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

#159

Post by cpeterso »

jgmmo wrote: post #152
zmj wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're making a mistake in thinking that there is an objective value that you can apply to yourself. It's not you.value, it's you.valueTo(other,now).

This. Prices only exist within a certain place and time.

And between certain parties.
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