2003 Salary Survey: How Do Your Earnings Stack Up?
Our salary survey reveals that although developers are earning more, job stability remains uncertain.
by Susannah Pfalzer
June 2003 Issue
About This Survey: For this survey, we e-mail a Web-based survey to a randomly selected list of U.S.-based VSM readers. We choose respondents randomly, so we can't guarantee these results are representative of all Visual Studio developers. Unless noted otherwise, "average salary" refers to salary alone, exclusive of bonuses and other forms of compensation. Send questions or comments about this survey to .
We've got bad news, we've got good news. Our Summer 2003 Salary Survey results offer some unpleasant data about the economy and job security that you'd probably expect—but some great salary information as well. As in last year's survey, the layoff situation for Visual Studio developers remains grim. However, developers are earning record amounts—if they manage to stay employed.
Base salary averages $76,000, while total compensation averages $81,000. That's a 12 percent rise in base salary over last year, and a rise of six percent for total compensation (including bonuses and stock options). Higher salaries for managers are partly responsible for this significant rise in compensation. Managers earn much more than individual contributors—and more, too, than they earned last year. Happily, individual contributors are also earning more. Internal developers for companies, and developers for software companies, are earning around $4,000 more than they did last year. Although companies continue to downsize, they appear to be compensating remaining employees more generously.
Companies are responding to the continued economic downturn in a variety of ways, but the most popular choice, unfortunately, continues to be layoffs. Forty-four percent of survey respondents report that their companies laid off employees in the past year, 24 percent report salary freezes, and 19 percent mention reduced benefits. Eleven percent of survey respondents were laid off in the last year. And compared to last year, it's taking longer for developers to find new jobs after being laid off—generally two months or more before finding a job. And 31 percent of those laid off are still looking for work.
New graduates also face employment challenges. A soon-to-graduate survey respondent says, "I have to compete not only with the best that are coming out of school, but also the best in the industry that have been displaced. I cannot compete with their experience, and I am having difficulties moving into a new position due to this." Earning certain types of undergraduate and graduate degrees can help, both in landing jobs and in earning potential. Graduates with MBAs hold a salary edge over other developers, because of their more specialized knowledge. Those with engineering or computer science degrees also earn more than average.
In fact, competing in this difficult labor market takes some creativity and some particular skills (see the sidebar, "Eight Ways to Earn More Money"). Developers who program primarily in C# earn 26 percent more than those who develop primarily in Visual Basic .NET. And, as past years' surveys have borne out as well, getting certified can boost your salary, but only if you earn desirable certifications such as Microsoft Certified Solution Developer (MCSD). Developers who focus on multitier, Web services, and server-side applications also earn more overall.
The tight job market is forcing some developers to remain in their current jobs longer than they would like, which accounts for a lower level of job satisfaction this year than in years past. Twenty percent of respondents rated their job satisfaction either "fair" or "poor," the two lowest ratings. Last year, only 10 percent of developers chose those low satisfaction ratings. As one developer comments, "The only thing keeping me in this job is the poor economy." Still, the majority of developers continue to be pleased with their rate of compensation and their work environment.
Salary also depends on location. Areas with traditionally high salaries include the Northeast, particularly New York and Pennsylvania. Other high-earnings areas include the Mid-Atlantic region—and Texas dwellers don't fare badly, either. However, higher salaries often come with a higher cost of living (see Additional Resources for some cost-of-living calculators). Another caveat: Some areas, such as San Jose, Calif., one of high-tech's epicenters, have a much higher than average unemployment rate. Per the Bureau of Labor Statistics' December 2002 figures, the unemployment rate in San Jose is 7.5 percent, while the unemployment rate in Boston is far lower at 4.4 percent (see Additional Resources for unemployment rate information).
As our survey results bear out, you can take some comfort in the knowledge that while you wait for the sluggish economy to kick back into gear, Visual Studio developers are still earning well.
About the Author
Susannah Pfalzer is a writer and editor based in San Jose, Calif. Reach her at .
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