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Reasonable Salary for Entry Level Programmers?

Posted by Cliff on from the is-this-job-offering-me-enough dept.

An anonymous reader asks: "I will be graduating from college in May with a degree in computer science. I have begun the job search and gone on a few interviews. So far I have gotten two job offers which I am thankful for, but the salary seems low. I am not saying that I am too good to pay my dues and work my way up, but I could make more waiting tables. It is somewhat distressing that I have spent 4 years of college and years before that developing my programming skills. I am not trying to get rich, but I was hoping that the high level of skill required would account for something(no offense intended to waiters). Can anyone give me any insight about what a reasonable starting salary would be, for an entry level software engineer?"

9 of 1,525 comments (clear)

  1. Likewise by kevin_conaway · · Score: 5, Informative

    Ill be graduating in May as well and the range Ive seen is 45k to 55k

    1. Re:Likewise by riptide_dot · · Score: 5, Informative

      It's hard to quote an average starting salary for anyone, because salaries vary so greatly across regions.

      A salary is based on several factors:
      1) The value of the position to the company (you can't really judge this one, but it matters to your potential employer - keep in mind that not all jobs are "required" for a company to survive and that if an employer decides they can't hire a qualified individual for the money they have allocated, then they might ditch the idea altogether.)
      2) The funds in the company that are available for the headcount.
      3) Your experience in the field of work.
      4) Your education level.
      5) The value of the position in the local market. (e.g. what it cost them to employ the person prior to you, or what it will cost them to hire the next person, or what it will cost them to outsource your job to another country)

      Those are in no particular order, but I would think that the most important from your potential employer's perspective is the amount of money they have available for the position.

      Your value to a potential employer doesn't necessarily pay off right away if you have no experience, since they will have to train you on how their specific environment works. People with real-life experience in a specific environment can command greater salaries because the cost their employer less overall because they require less training and are usually ready to "hit the ground running".

      My advice to you is to consider the whole package, not just the salary when you are scoping out a job. Does the employer offer good benefits? Can they offer you a signing bonus in leiu of a higher salary (it usually comes out of a different budget than the one the salary is paid from)? Is the workplace conducive to you learning a lot so you can become more marketable to your next employer? Will it be a high-stress job? Are the hours flexible? Is it close to your residence?

      While the salary is the most important part of an employment package, there's a lot more to a good job that just it's salary.

      Next time you're eating out, ask your waiter what kind of dental plan, medical plan, or 401k matching plan he has and how much it costs...

      P.S. - I've been a waiter before and most employers don't offer benefits unless you're full time (40+ hours a week), which is rare in a foodservice environment.

      --
      I was in the park the other day wondering why frisbees get bigger and bigger the closer they get - and then it hit me.
  2. Bureau of Labor Statistics by Squeamish+Ossifrage · · Score: 5, Informative

    The Bureau of Labor Statistics keeps this sort of data, though possibly with some significant lag time.

    Try looking at: http://www.bls.gov/bls/blswage.htm.

  3. Re:I don't know a good rate... by No_Censorship · · Score: 5, Informative

    $20 an hour is what I've seen. It's enough to live on and actually support a family.

    --
    The truth about Lindows
  4. Re:I don't know a good rate... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    I make $45K in LA, and let me tell you, supporting a family on that in SoCal is hard. We pay almost $1000 for a one bedroom apartment in a safe (but not luxurious) neighborhood, where my wife and I live with our toddler and our infant. Things are tight out here; I had to move from San Diego to get this job, and one of my co-workers moved from Silicon Valley. The salary range actually topped out at $40K but the wanted the skillset I was bringing to the table badly enough to come up the extra five. Asking for forty to fifty when the salary range topped out at forty was maybe risky, but I believe they would either go for it or at the worst hire me for forty. They went for it, and that extra five thousand really helps.

    Now, if a person lives in, say, Iowa, or Utah, or, really, a lot of places other than California, then $45K is not bad at all. But around here, it's not easy.

  5. Re:I don't know a good rate... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    $20/hour can mean a lot of different things. If it is a unionized government job with benefits in a low cost of living area-it wouldn't be too bad. I can easily see how that wouldn't go far in New York City or Silicon Valley-even for a single guy.

  6. Cost of Living Index by tiltowait · · Score: 5, Informative

    Yahoo's Neighborhood Profiles section, searchable by zip code, has lots of nice data if you're pricing a job.

  7. Re:Tough to say... but it aint what it used to be by pompousjerk · · Score: 5, Informative
    http://www.amazon.com/.../jrjcriticaldo-20...

    Grrr.

    Without the Amazon-referer whoring:
  8. Re:I don't know a good rate... by C10H14N2 · · Score: 5, Informative

    The national average for all "white-collar/technical" professions is $27.15/hour ($56k). However, in most metro areas, it is around $30 ($62k). Out of college, you should expect about 15% less than average or between $48k and $52k with some prior experience--although many, many people will be more than happy to offer you $26.5k. The point is, you should be able to hit the mean within three years. Don't let ANYONE tell you otherwise. If you are offered less than 15% below the aggregate mean (that is, everyone, not just IT) for your area, laugh hysterically as they watch your ass walk out the door. In most metro areas, that's about $45k, so 15% less is about $19/hour. Really, it's quite therapeutic and they deserve it. Another nice rule-of-thumb is if the salary is less than you paid for tuition, move on. If you went to a school like Georgetown that routinely offers jobs requiring master's degrees for $27k, which is less than a single year of undergrad tuition, you know what I'm talking about.

    Look here to get detailed information on actual wages in your area:

    http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ocs/home.htm