Average Hourly Developer Rates By Country

A key question that hangs in the air in 2021 is, 'What is a good rate when building software?'

17:31 15 March 2021

On the surface, this may seem like a cinch, but rates vary tremendously based on software development companies and their location. If you are still pondering “How much do software developers make”, here’s a short overview of hourly rates by countries and factors that affect these figures.

 

Factors That Determine Software Developer Hourly Rates

 

Besides obvious factors like location, there’s a gamut of things that underpin engineers’ hourly wages. Here’s Devox Software insight into the major influential factors, based on their experience and market data.

 

Tech stack

 

Salary-wise, top-tier languages such as Python and JavaScript are the most popular on the market. Therefore, there is no shortage of coders specifying in this language. As the law of economics states, the greater the selection of a skill is on the market, the lower the specialist charge. On the contrary, coders with knowledge of rare technologies like Scala or F# tend to charge a higher remuneration.

 

Experience

 

Hourly developer rates reflect directly how far along the specialist is in his or her career. An established and proficient software engineer will earn more than his or her junior-level colleague. On the other hand, it means that you can hire an entry-level developer with 0-1 years overall experience and little managerial experience for a significantly lower sum.

 

Project complexity

 

Increased complexity always leads to higher costs, including developer salaries, since the hired employee has to spend more hours to get the work done. Also, the degree of complexity can hinder the clear identification of goals and objectives which leads to constant strategy alterations and adaptations as well as hefty rates.

 

Time pressure

 

If you want to get the ball rolling in a short time, be prepared to fork out more. The urgent nature of your project always means bigger personnel, which hints you’ll have to hire a whole team to put down the fires.

 

Location

 

Job location is one of the most important factors for a high engineer hourly rate. We see salary patterns fluctuating wildly from country to country, which we’ll focus on further in the article.

 

Hourly Developer Salaries By Country

 

If you want to get the value for a reasonable price, here’s a short cheat sheet to help you find the best price-quality ratio in the world.

Ukraine

 

This country has gained its reputation as a trustworthy IT outsourcing destination and an established tech hub on par with other global leaders. And the main reason for the swell in demand is the local affordable developer rates. An entry-level software engineer with less than 1-year of experience can expect to make $5-$7,5 per hour, whereas mid-career developers price up their services to $16-$16,5. A specialist of the highest echelons charges around $23-$24 for the same job.

 

India

 

In 2021 India has rightly become the digital capabilities powerhouse with more than 70% of global tech talent present in the country. Usually, Indian-based juniors charge around $3,5 per hour, whereas top-level developers raise their remuneration to $9-$12,5. Mid-level developers set a price of $5,5-$8 per hour.

 

USA

 

The United States is the largest tech market in the world, accounting for $1.6 trillion in 2021. The national average hourly salary for a software developer with little experience is around $29,5-$46. Mid-level coders raise the bar to $38-$60,25 per hour, whereas seasoned engineers get down to work for $50,5 - $75,25.

 

UK

 

Even in 2020, the UK tech sector manifested its resilience through continued job creation and investment deals. So it’s no wonder, this nation is among the global tech leaders. The average hourly salary for a software developer can start from $19 to $27,5 for beginners and go up to $39-$49 for senior-level employees. Mid-level coders tend to price their services at around $29-$40 per hour. 

 

Germany

 

Germany continues our list of tech-savvy countries with the local IT industry accounting for an additional 88.2 billion euros into the budget. As for the compensations, median hourly developer wages in Germany lie in the range of $20 to $31 for juniors, while mid-level developers earn around $30-$42 for the same work scope. As for senior specialists, their hourly wage ramps up to $51-$58.

 

The Takeaway

 

As the demand for outsourcing services in software development soars, more companies start to question the bill rate in their vicinity. As our article shows, if you want to get software development services for a fraction of the price, Ukraine and India boast the winning quality-price ratio.