2017 Software Development Salary Survey

Company Size

OUR RESULTS SHOW THAT THE BIGGER THE COMPANY, THE HIGHER THE SALARY. About a third of our respondents (32%) worked for 2- to 100-person companies. Their median salary was $65K, which is $15K lower than our overall median. As companies grow, so do salaries: the median was $78K for companies with 101–1,000 employees, $91K for 1,001–10,000 employees, and a generous $103K for organizations with more than 10,000 employees.

One-person organizations are an exception. Their $83K median salary falls between respondents from 101–1,000 employee firms ($78K) and 1,000– 10,000 employee firms ($91K). The small size of the one-person organization—a bit over 2% of respondents— may be focused on specialized work that commands higher pay.

Comparing 2017 to last year, we see small and mid-size company respondents losing salary traction relative to those working in large companies (1,000+ employees):

• One-person firms: $83K, down $13K (-13%)

• 2–100 employees: $65K, down $13K (-17%)

• 100–1,000 employees: $78K, down $14K (-15%)

• 1,001–10,000 employees: $91K, down $4K (-3%)

• 10,000+ employees: $103K, down $5K (-5%)

When we look at companies by age, we see a similar trend: the older the company, the higher the salaries. The majority of companies don’t make it to their fifth birthdays, which indicates that those that do are onto something. Older, more experienced companies probably also know that it is expensive to recruit and train new team members, so offering higher salaries to ...