Large-Scale Findings

THE MEDIAN SALARY IS $78,000 (we use US dollars for all money in this report). Naturally, there is a lot of variation, but 75% of respondents had a salary of at least $50,000, and 25% had a salary of at least $109,000. Things are changing fast, though: salaries rise quickly. 17% of respondents reported a salary raise of 20% to 30% over the past three years. The salary raises also form a bell curve around this 17%. For instance, although 5% reported a decrease in salary, 16% reported that their salaries had doubled, or even done better, over three years.

The United States paid the highest salaries, with the average being $98,000. Canada was also pretty high, with a median of $79,000 (in US dollars), and Australia/New Zealand at $74,000. Compensation drops off rapidly after that:

• UK and Ireland: average of $62,000

• Rest of Europe: average of $43,000

• Africa: average of $23,000 (but there was a rather high top quartile of $41,000)

• Asia: average of $21,000 (with a high top quartile of $47,000)

• Latin America: average of $21,000 (with a high top quartile of $44,000)

The top quartile means that 25% of respondents earned more than the amount listed. Of course, countries differ in taxation and the benefits they offer, so salaries have somewhat different meanings in different countries.

Because we got a lot of respondents from the US, we could break them down by region. High salaries in California are no surprise (particularly given the cost of living there), but the high average in Southwest/Mountain states is rather unexpected. (This category does not include California, which has its own category.) Utah, with a large web developer community, as well as Colorado and Arizona all saw high salaries.

• California: average of $120,000

• Northeast: average of $105,000

• Southwest/Mountain: average of $102,000

• Pacific Northwest: average of $98,000

• Mid-Atlantic: average of $96,000

• South: average of $83,000

• Midwest: average of $80,000

Next let’s drill down into the differences between respondents. The data might affect your career choices.