Software Developer Salary Tools


aka how much should YOU be paid

How much should you be paid for the work you do? How much are your peers being paid? Is it all just about the money anyway?

At this point it should be common knowledge that obfuscating the salary information favors the employer only. It may be less well known that leaving it out of job posting actively promotes pay gaps, pay inequity, and in some cases discrimination. It only favors the companies.

Any money saved by this practice is a short-term win for the company. One of the main reasons developers leave organizations is to seek out a 10-20% pay increase. Statistically companies that openly document pay bands for their open roles have less turnover. Additionally, having a clear career progression in place will allow workers manage expectations. Pay discrepancy can also lead to tension among otherwise amicable teammates.

In short, the immediate salary savings are quickly diminished when taking the lost opportunity costs, knowledge loss, and the time and resources spent hiring into account. It is our job to help companies understand this!

States such as Colorado, Nevada, Washington and California currently require job listings to include the salary bands for a position. Every year more and more states join this list. While it is becoming more commonplace for jobs and postings to contain salary information, it is still the exception rather than the rule.

Hopefully it is clear that you should know your worth, but the hiring company should also know how much they are willing to pay a viable candidate. In the interim here are some great resources to learn how much you should be paid as a developer:

https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/index.htm

https://www.indeed.com/career/salaries

https://www.teamblind.com/

https://www.roberthalf.com/sites/default/files/documents_not_indexed/2021_Salary_Guide_Technology_NA.pdf

https://insights.stackoverflow.com/survey/2021#section-top-paying-technologies-top-paying-technologies

Many workers are also organizing to create opt in google sheets. Remember, your employer cannot punish you for disclosing your salary information.

Knowledge is power!