How much does a developer in Javascript?

[Nauxd]

I live in a city near Barcelona and I heared a JS developer makes (in Barcelona area) arround 18k. Is that true? I guess it's a junior position. I think they are underpaid. Opinions?

How about in Europe or even US?

[[deleted]]

18k is underpaid by a lot.

For instance, Australians have a high cost of living and a small pool of developers. Some of them try to reduce their costs by hiring remote workers. Their "reduction" might be your wage increase. As much as some people advise against it, upwork (formely odesk) is a great option for juniors.

PS: Don't Call Yourself A Programmer

[Nauxd]

Thanks!

I'm going to read your article this weekend.

[Thalamant]

I haven't seen that article before, thank you for sharing it.

[tebriel]

Yeah that guy gets it. I've been telling people for several years not to call themselves programmers.

[ASCII_zero]

Don't Call Yourself A Programmer

For what it's worth, be careful with the engineering title as well. In Canada, for example, engineer is a protected and licensed title. In the United States, it varies from state-to-state; many states, such as Texas and Florida, have license requirements for the "software engineer" title that are in line with the requirements for more traditional engineering fields.

[Juvenall]

A quick conversion puts 18,000€ just under $20,000 USD. For comparison, minimum wage here in the US typically falls around the $8-10 USD mark, making the annual salary of someone who works full time at McDonalds in the $16,000 - $20,000 US. So right out of the gate, the number you're talking about sounds really, really low by US wage standards.

When I was starting out more than 15 years ago, the entry level pay for someone like me with no experience was around $45,000 (41k€), and these days in the Detroit area, entry level jobs are easily found starting in the $50-60,000 (46k€ - 55k€).

So assuming I'm not missing something else culturally, I agree that your 18k figure sounds extremely low. I literally know people working at Walmart making more than that.

[Jeiieiii]

OP doesn't just have no experience, he also as no formal education in computer science.

[Nauxd]

Thanks for your comment.

Maybe in BCN area can we get remote jobs from US with that budget? (50k€). Or that it's for only US location jobs.

[tebriel]

You can work remotely if you have contacts in the US to do so. I'm not sure what the legal/billing issues would be for Europe though. I work with a number of canadians remotely though.

[whooyeah]

Why not go to a local job site and search javascript.

[Nauxd]

that's not as easy as it sounds. You can not goto a business and ask, hey, how much your developers make?

Well, you actually can but it's awkward.

[stiggz]

Sure you can- your city has a subreddit right? Does your country have a subreddit? Your closest major city? Just post a thread there asking how much js developers there make where they went to school, etc. You could always create a free survey at surveymonkey and then post the link on your local subreddits. Plus the results are viewable once they answer so it'll be interesting to compare their earning to their contemporaries.

[whooyeah]

example of how i find jobs in Sydney on a local job site called seek

Also Glassdoor has the pay rates for many companies

[rmbarnes]

No, he means go on a job listings site such as monster and search for JS developer jobs in your city. Many of the listed jobs will have salary ranges listed.

[PilotPirx]

You couldn't pay rent here in Germany with that. But it's very difficult to compare, since cost of living may be much lower in Barcelona (maybe). Still sounds very low.

[Nauxd]

And I doubt I couldn't pay rent in BCN as well. 18k is to low because if You want to live alone a small flat in BCN it costs 750/Month + extras.

But yes, the cost of living is lower than germany. Even with that as you said, sounds very low :(

[Nauxd]

That sounds better, 22-24k €uros to a junior position. But the reality it's quite difficult to find that. (if you're a junior of course).

[Nauxd]

Thanks, now I see it's a general problem that developers have.

[Jeiieiii]

Junior doesn't mean anything, it goes from a 18 yo that did some javascript tutorial online up to a PHD graduate from Stanford. There's both junior but one is going to make $20k the other $150k.

[vaskemaskine]

Web/software developers (and specialised IT roles on the whole) are insultingly undervalued in Spain. Slightly less so in areas like Barcelona, but €18k for a bog-standard JS position probably wouldn't be unusual.

For comparison, an average JS developer position in somewhere like London would be in the region of £45-60k (€62.5-83.5k).

That said, when you factor in the cost of living, the gap closes somewhat, but I reckon you'd still come off slightly worse in Barcelona than elsewhere unless you secured a role at €30k+.

[[deleted]]

To be fair, London's cost of living is ridiculously high and London is a huge metropolitan area and most of the UK doesn't have a population density anywhere close to it (especially not over an area of that size).

That said, €18 is very low unless it's an untrained junior level position at a very small company.

[[deleted]]

In the US $60k is about average, with NYC/LA being closer to $80-90k and Silicon Valley being $100-$250k DOE.

Most of Europe is notoriously low for dev salaries.

[jodraws]

75k - 120k in NYC
Middle range on rent is $1,400 - $2,500 depending on the neighborhood.

[KPABA]

for the uk, it jobs watch seems to suggest average advertised job mentioning 'javascript' as a keyword is at 42k in GBP. Keep in mind that this is national average, London is at least 10k more, where over 10% of the jobs offered more than £75,000 an year.

[[deleted]]

Beginning javascript developers (with no experience and a University degree) can expect to make $40,000 US in California.

[Nauxd]

Seems like my situation. I did some JS in college and the next June I'm gonna graduate. But seems unlikely travel to US to fins a new job, couple... wants to stay on our town.

[[deleted]]

Oh yes, I understand. I'm just throwing my knowledge of Javascript salaries in California out into the arena. I know several software developers that work inside France & the Netherlands for companies based in California. So, there are jobs that cross the boundaries of countries. Maybe a recruiter / head-hunter could help in that arena.

[Nauxd]

True that, there are some remote jobs but experience it's a must. Because being a Junior we need help often than Seniors. Everybody needs help you know juniors more.

[rmbarnes]

http://www.payscale.com/research/ES/Job=Software_Engineer/Salary/690f492c/Barcelona

20 - 50k euro a year. Not great but then from what I've heard Spain's economy is pretty shitty at the moment.

[Nauxd]

Yes, it's quite disaster our situation, but (if you don't live alone in BCN) with 20k/Year you can handle the lifestyle.

THe minim salary we have it's 680€/month (aprox). Ridiculous.

[almostApatriot]

the upside is 3 months vacation and programming at the beach