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Re:Ask HN: Current Rates for Software Development by Minor49er on Tuesday January 11, 2022 @10:43AM (#29892809)
If you ever need employment or salary about anything in the United States, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has you covered. For your question, I would start here:

https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/...

Re:Ask HN: Current Rates for Software Development by lapsedacademic on Tuesday January 11, 2022 @01:31PM (#29895589)
BLS data is not super useful for Software because bonuses and stock aren't included in their salary data.
Re:Ask HN: Current Rates for Software Development by Minor49er on Tuesday January 11, 2022 @03:44PM (#29897577)
Those kinds of things can be explained by any company that offers them. They're not guaranteed. Other benefits fall into a similar category where one company's coverage of health, dental, retirement, etc, will differ from another's. But I would not take any of those as meaning that the salary data for software development isn't useful.
Re:Ask HN: Current Rates for Software Development by lapsedacademic on Tuesday January 11, 2022 @05:28PM (#29899151)
> coverage of health, dental, etc

That's not at all the same. I'm not talking about "a few RSUs" or a "small signing bonus". At all of the largest software employers, salary is at best half of total comp.

This year, my salary is less than 1/4th of my total comp. The other parts of my compensation are a cash bonus and RSUs, both guaranteed in my employment contract, both paid out+earned on the roughly the same schedule as my salary.

And the stock is literally better than cash given the inflation rate.

> retirement

This is actually instructive on how salary data can be wildly misleading.

There are tons of careers where salaries have modestly increased (or decreased on real terms) but where total comp as PLUMMETED as pensions were replaced with 401Ks.

Re:Ask HN: Current Rates for Software Development by Minor49er on Tuesday January 11, 2022 @09:28PM (#29901537)
I don't think you're representative of the common case
Re:Ask HN: Current Rates for Software Development by seattle_spring on Wednesday January 12, 2022 @12:21AM (#29902653)
I'd argue that they are if they live on either coast. If you live in a big coastal city and aren't getting stock and great benefits, then you either are working for a teensy company, a gaming company, or are getting taken to the cleaner's.
Re:Ask HN: Current Rates for Software Development by Minor49er on Wednesday January 12, 2022 @11:18AM (#29908621)
I'm not saying that no stock or great benefits aren't the common case. Rather, it's the GP saying that his salary is less than 1/4 of his total comp, which does not sound typical
Re:Ask HN: Current Rates for Software Development by catinblack on Tuesday January 11, 2022 @10:54AM (#29892991)
I see that data is from 2020. I wonder how it has changed in 2021, I hope they publish soon
Re:Ask HN: Current Rates for Software Development by Minor49er on Tuesday January 11, 2022 @03:52PM (#29897672)
The BLS publishes data that's often about 12-18 months behind the current year. They can't publish much more frequently as the year has to end before they can collect useful stats. That said, you can see trends by going to the Job Outlook section.

Under More Info, there are also links to O*NET which has its own summary information that's often updated much sooner. For example, the page for Software Developers notes that it was last updated in 2021 in the upper right corner:

https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/15-1252.00

Re:Ask HN: Current Rates for Software Development by mixmastamyk on Tuesday January 11, 2022 @01:57PM (#29896003)
That category is unfortunately a bit too wide. Splitting SWE and QA would be useful.
Re:Ask HN: Current Rates for Software Development by Minor49er on Tuesday January 11, 2022 @03:57PM (#29897744)
With the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics section (OEWS), you're in luck:

https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes150000.htm

Re:Ask HN: Current Rates for Software Development by catinblack on Tuesday January 11, 2022 @10:51AM (#29892941)
Thank you!