What is the average Full-Stack Developer's Pay? Recent data for 2022

Dec 22, 2022
Full Stack Developer Salary

When you're a full-stack developer You have twice the experience and expertise as well as a specificization. That's more money, don't you think? If you're planning to pursue fully-stack advancement, you're probably very keen to learn whether the effort required to master it pays off.

What Exactly Is Full-Stack Development?

Generally, a website comprises two parts of The frontend (client-side) and the backend (server-side).

Where do full-stack developers come into this? The answer: they specialize in all areas! Full-stack developers are able to deal with problems on both the client- and server-side and set up a working website all by themselves.

But spreading your skills across a wide area means you're often missing out on developing crucial skills, or even half of your skill set might become out of balance when you focus on specific areas.

Being a full-stack designer has huge advantages , as it lets you be highly flexible and able to take on various parts of your project when needed.


How to become an Full-Stack Developer

Due to its unspecialized nature being a full-stack programmer can take longer and more effort as compared to choosing another technology field. When things go wrong, people will naturally turn to you for help with their vast collection of skills. It could take some time to learn these techniques.

A computer science or related degree will help you gain your bearings and quickly learn new techniques, but actual full-stack experience could be more valued by employers and land you an opportunity even though you do not have a formal education. It is best to check job listings for your location and look up the open job requirements.

In all, these are the top job requirements of full-stack developers:

  • An associate's, bachelor's or more in computer science: Perhaps optional if are able to replace it with.
  • The ability to work with backend languages, libraries and frameworks: Which language(s) you select to specialise in is completely dependent on you, but you need to be able build applications that are server-side.
  • Competencies in teamwork As you're applicable to the scope of a project, you're expected to help to assist others when they're struggling.
  • Flexibility and attention to the smallest of details: The ability to move between various aspects of the same project is essential for a successful full-stack programmer. With so many tasks to be able to switch between, you'll need a good sense of recognizing errors, or you'll leave a host of problems behind.

Full-Stack Developer Job Responsibilities

While you may have a broad skill range, your employer shouldn't expect you to do two people's tasks. A double-skilled person doesn't necessarily mean that you'll have to do twice as much work. Unless you're making a minimal site, you'll not have to be the sole person in charge!

However, your daily duties could change depending on the parts of the job. Here's a list of what you could be required to accomplish:

  • The team can switch between the various roles in the team on a daily or every week.
  • Use a range of frameworks and libraries.
  • Create a user-friendly experience on the front end.
  • Create and edit the database.
  • Debug issues that arise anywhere on the internet.
  • Support other developers throughout the project and collaborate on the design of the structure.
  • Collaborate with graphic designers in order to transform their concepts into code.
  • Make functioning website prototypes.

The demand for Full-Stack developers

Full-stack developers earn an excellent salary or not, it is only a matter of if they are being hired by employers.

A lot of people hire separate front and backend developers. You could be interested in such jobs but end up sidelining your extra expertise. How likely do you to be able to earn the job title "full-stack developer"? Let's take a look at the current trends.

In 2020, LinkedIn released its Emerging Jobs Report, in which "full-stack engineers" have been listed for the second year in a row. The report even states that growth for this job has increased by 35% every year since 2015.

"Full Stack Engineer" article screenshot with a woman at a computer
LinkedIn Full-Stack Jobs Report: Emerging Jobs Report

This data reflects a growing demand for full-stack designers -but not always more than skilled workers, however it is a sign that you'll be able to get the work you need with no difficulty.

The pay of a job can also reflect how sought-after the job is. The greater the pay, the more appreciated you will be as an employee. Likewise, more likely it is that your field is overcrowded with other people competing to get hired.

Average Full-Stack Developer Salary

Becoming a full-stack developer means forgoing specialization in favor of picking up as many skills as is possible. However, the knowledge you acquire isn't sluggish; full-stack developers are often referred to as "unicorns," similar to hybrid designer-developer types because their abilities are so expansive and rare.

This is certainly not an easy path. What's the value of the effort? If you were to pay a salary are you better off settling for a simpler job that's easier to handle?

Here is the average full-stack developer's pay:

  • Indeed: $108k/year which is based on 10.5k paid salaries
  • Glassdoor $199k for the year. a low of $63k and a high of $157k
  • ZipRecruiter $103k/year ($49/hour), with an average of $38k, and a peak of $159k
  • PayScale $79k per year, with an average of $54k, and a peak of $115k
A bar graph showing the average salary for a full stack developer
Full-Stack Developer salary

If you take all of this information and combine it and you'll earn a pay of $97k/year. Sure, it's not too terrible, but how would it compare with other comparable positions?

Full-Stack vs Back End Developer Salary

Backend development can be more difficult in comparison to frontend (or client-side) development due to the fact that there are just so many frameworks and languages to understand. Many of these languages can be difficult to master.

Being a full-stack designer, you won't end up touching on many of these narrower areas of web development. What's the salary are compared?

  • Indeed: $121k/year, based on 2.4k reported salaries
  • Glassdoor: $78k/year, with an average of $48k, and a high of $128k
  • ZipRecruiter: $100k/year, with a low of $41k and a peak of $157k
  • PayScale $80k/year. a low of $50k and a high of $131k
A bar graph showing the average salary for a back end developer
Salary of Back End Developers

Put these together, and you get an average of $95k/year to backend developers, while full-stack developers get $97k/year.

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Even though you make a few extra dollars when developing full-stack, it's not all as much when compared to the standard web-based developer.

Full-Stack vs Front-End Developer Salary

Frontend developers notoriously get the short end of the stick money-wise due to the fact that HTML as well CSS are more straightforward for developers who are new to the field to understand and therefore there are lots of fresh talent competing on the workforce.

What is the salary outlook similar for front-end developers to full-stack developers?

  • Indeed $16k/year, based on 5.2k salaries
  • Glassdoor: $87k/year, with the lowest being $51k and a peak of $147k
  • ZipRecruiter is $80k/year. the lowest being $34k and a maximum of $128k
  • PayScale $75k per year, with the lowest being $49k and a high of $115k
A bar graph showing the average salary for a front end developer
Front End Developer Salary

Average this, and you're looking at $87k/year. In comparison to full-stack developers' $97k/year, it's 10k more. If income is one of your primary concerns you should opt to backend development or full-stack.

Full-Stack Developer Salary Based on Experiential Level

It is possible to make a significant difference to how much you are paid. However, certain jobs are more lucrative in terms of earning more money with time. By the time you reach an advanced stage and you have accumulated a few years of experience, what will you make?

The first is entry-level full-stack developer pay. Do you earn a reasonable salary in your debut year of employment? We'll look at the numbers:

  • Indeed $188k per year with less than one year of expertise
  • ZipRecruiter: $86k/year, with the lowest being $26k and a maximum of $147k
  • PayScale annual revenue of $66k, with an average of $48k, and highs of $90k
A bar graph showing the average salary for entry-level full stack development
Entry-Level Salary of Full-Stack Software Developer

This means you could earn an annual salary of $80k, but it seems that the salary distribution can be quite different in the first year. It all depends on whether you can land an attractive job or take on freelance developer work or if you're able to locate enough work that you can support your needs.

As you gain more experience as you gain experience, you'll earn more money. PayScale estimates that Early-career developers with full stacks can make $75k/year, and this can increase to $92k when you reach mid-career..

Finally, senior full-stack developers. If you've reached the end of your career stage and have taken on the responsibility of managing projects and training others do you think the efforts you've put in be worth it?

  • Glassdoor $111k/year. a low of $80k and a peak of $156k
  • ZipRecruiter 120,000 dollars per year, with an average of $61k, and a high of $171k
  • PayScale 121k annually, with an average of $96k, and a high of $152k
A bar graph showing the average salary for senior-level full stack development
Senior Full-Stack Developer Salary

The result is the final figure of $117k per year. That's not a whole lot more than the overall median of $97k/year. However, with the entry-level salary at $80k/year, you'll end up making an extra $40k over the course of your professional career.

Full-Stack developer Salary Freelance

In one sense, you can set your own prices. This means that you will earn greater than you can with a regular paycheck. But the amount of money you make is contingent on your ability to attract clients.

If you are able to earn enough money to enjoy full-stack freelance work, here's the salary you can expect.

A bar graph showing the hourly rate distribution for full stack development
Full-Stack Developer Hourly Rates Distribution

ZipRecruiter has an estimated salary of $106k per year ($51/hour). Additionally, Codementor says that full-stack developers who are freelance earn $61-$80/hour.

There isn't much data on the subject, however overall, it seems like successful freelancers can expect to earn more on average than even the most experienced developers. Though it's not for everybody but it's definitely worth a look.

Full-Stack Developer Salary per Country

The location you reside in can make a an enormous difference in the amount you earn. Full-stack developers may be less popular in your town or nation, but are just as much in demand, you could end up having a lucrative job. On the other hand certain countries could have a much lower pay rate than average.

Below are the top nations in which full-stack developers are demanded:

Does it make sense to become a full-stack developer?

When you look at the typical full-stack developer's salary Is it worth the trouble to become a full-stack designer, or would it be better to focus on one area?

With an average salary of $97k a year, beginning at $80k/year in the early career , and increasing to $117k/year as a senior financial concern isn't any issue. The salary is the same amount, if not even more than other jobs. If this is all you're concerned about, you'll be fine pursuing this job.

It is likely that you will earn more than the typical web developer, but just by a few centimeters. If server-side scripting is the dream of yours, but you'd like to just take on the "full-stack" name to make a little more, it may not be worthwhile to put in the work.

A lot of full-stack developers claim that they tend to put the majority of their effort into backend development anyway. While the knowledge of the client side can certainly aid, it might be best to concentrate on.

Everything depends on what you want. Are you looking to gain an in-depth knowledge about creating websites, that can assist when problems occur in your project? Or would you rather heavily focus on either front or backend coding and learn the most you can in these specialized domains?

All of these positions have very similar salaries, in the end, it's best to go on the job that interests you the most as a budding developer.

Summary

Full-stack developers are a rare class that, on average, earn $97k/year. While you're making a little more than comparable jobs others, the other kinds of developers manage to just about keep up in the pay scale. Therefore, you might have twice your expertise, but there's no guarantee that you'll make twice as much for the effort.

This position has its own unique set of problems too. It's more challenging to master because of its broad scope, even though general knowledge across all fields can be helpful in debugging tasks the problem, this means that you don't have specific expertise for the most difficult issues.

There are also employers who don't understand your role and hire them, expecting you to complete the job at a similar rate.

If you decide to go full-stack programming solely for the purpose of making more money than other kinds of developers, then you're most likely to be disappointed. If you're interested in the description of your job and believe that you're able to succeed in this unique role and become a full-stack designer, then becoming one might be the best choice for you.

What do you think of the salary ranges for a full-stack developer? Please share your thoughts by leaving a comment below!

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