I know it's a question that doesn't have an exact answer. But you will help me if you give an average range. I am being interviewed now for a software company located in California and I want to be more informed about this aspect. Thanks!
Check out <a href="http://www.glassdoor.com" rel="nofollow">http://www.glassdoor.com</a>. They have anonymous salaries from current and former employees, along with actual interview questions and reviews. Look up the company name there and see what it says. For example, I looked up DreamWorks in Los Angeles, and there are 10 salaries listed for software engineer, with a range from $74k-$98k. There are 3 salaries listed for senior software engineer with a range from $98k-113k. That is valuable info when negotiating salary, and you get an idea of advancement potential
I've just finished interviews at several Web companies in California, specifically San Francisco, so I have a good feel for what people are offering. I can confidently tell you that the going rate is between $80,000 and $100,000 for software engineers who can demonstrate that they will be valuable to the company, regardless of concrete years of experience.
$100,000<p>Please do not listen to anyone who even mentions that the average salary is below $80,000, which is completely uninformed and basically an insult to the profession.
I recently went through a similar process of needing to guess what the range was for a position. However a much more important question to ask is "What do you honestly think you're worth?" I believe you'll get that amount.<p>If you ask for a lot more than you personally think you're worth during negotiations people will probably read your lack of confidence. If however you ask for more than the employer originally wanted to pay, but express that amount in a confident way then you're much more likely to get it. A good company (ie one you want to work for) isn't going to offer you the job unless they really think you're the one they want, and they wouldn't lose that for a few K, unless they feel like you're full of it.<p>Most importantly though YOU don't want to work for less than you honestly think you're worth. I once took a small pay cut when I really thought I was worth much more, the job was interesting but I knew there was a timer on how long I'd be there. Be honest with yourself and ask for what you need to feel comfortable with the position.
I'll hazard an estimate for Silicon Valley: $60,000 + $3000 per year of experience +/- 20% if you rule/suck. I'd make the same estimate for people in most technical fields. I think it's hard to get more precise than that.
It's worth keeping in mind that California is a big place. The difference between the Bay Area and LA/San Diego isn't completely insignificant when it comes to hiring practices and salaries. In my experience, years of experience has more of a bearing on your employment and compensation in the south than it does in the bay where companies are looking for talented people of just about any background, and if anything youth can be something of an advantage when looking for work.
I think you need to take into consideration the type of industry that the company is going to take you in. A lot (actually most) of the companies would low-ball their prospective employees, as it looks good in their bottom line that they are getting these developers for less paltry sums.<p>If the company hiring you is already an established firm with a good history in terms of professional's salary, then I would expect that you could go for a range of 100K - 150K. For startups, it could go as less as 50K and for medium sized companies, it should be fair to consider an offer from 60K to 90K.
Wow, I am extremely surprised at the low salaries you guys are speaking of. Is it because of the python language that it is so low? As a java developer at a so-so company in dallas 6 figures is the starting point for someone with 5+ years of experience.<p>I honestly don't know how someone could make it in an the Bay Area on 100k which is really disappointing because I have been wanting to move there and also have been wanting to make the switch to full time python development.
Depends on what you'll be doing.<p>If you're automating a money making process that is scalable, the sky's the limit.<p>If you're developing from scratch or greatly enhancing a core product, then... A lot.<p>If you're doing reporting or back-office cost center type of coding, then whatever the market values your skills as a commodity.
The market for Python developers is incredibly tight right now.<p>If you are talented you should be able to get $90-100k+.<p>We are hiring Python developers at Catch.com, feel free to shoot me an email ( aschobel@catch.com ).<p>Here is our PyCon MongoDB talk:
<a href="https://catch.com/blog/2011/03/pycon-2011-mongodb-pylons-at-catch-com-scalable-web-apps-with-python-and-nosql/" rel="nofollow">https://catch.com/blog/2011/03/pycon-2011-mongodb-pylons-at-...</a>
i feel like there should be some way to calculate this by looking at regional cost of living and factoring in scarcity of the profession along with some normalized salary range for the job title, because as mentioned, salary diffs b/w sf, sd and la are likely to be significant.
I suggest you use a site like bestplaces.net and compare what your current salary buys where you currently live to how much you would need just to stay even if you moved to where you are job hunting. If you can't get at <i>at least</i> that much, it's a pay cut. (Cali tends to be pretty pricey compared to most places in the US, so odds are good the cost of living is higher, not lower, than where you currently live.) Then tack on a pay raise and compare to what some folks here have said and blah blah blah. I am acquainted (via internet) with someone who turned down a job in Cali because it would have been a de facto pay cut for him in spite of the juicy-sounding number they named.<p>Best of luck.