Real data addressing real questions.

There are several reasons to support the decision of becoming a web developer.  It’s not just cyclical.  According to experts (our students!), there are a couple of main reasons to join a Coding Bootcamp: (1) placement opportunities; and, (2) average salary.

But, exactly how much money are we talking about?  Definitely a very important topic, and, because we know that you want to have the appropriate info, we are giving you the comparative wages updated for web development in 2017.

How much would you earn as a web developer?

According to US News & World Report, web

developers made a median salary of $64,970 and one of the highest-paid in the profession earned $116,620.  The best-paid positions can be found in the metropolitan areas of San Jose, San Rafael, California, and San Francisco.

Then you are probably thinking: are these salaries for newly formed web developers?  YES!   Wages for junior web developers (which, by the way, is the training you can get in only 16 weeks of study at 4Geeks Academy 🙂 ) are around $60,000 per year.

According to PayScale, a web developer (with 2 years of experience) can make an average salary of $85,860 dollars a year in Miami, New York or California.  A junior one could begin with $55,000 per year.  Not bad for a junior position.

Economically speaking, in the end, is it a good idea to be a web developer?

Glassdoor  placed the Web Developer job among the highest rankings of:

  • Best jobs for work-life balance

  • Jobs with the highest salary increases

This trend does not look like it will stop; The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that Coding jobs will grow up to 17 percent for web developers by 2024.

Job Opportunities: Education in Coding Bootcamps vs Science degree

Coding Bootcamps are not only an alternative to the regular education system; they are the innovative educational model that allows achieving quality training in a short time.  Former President Barack Obama affirmed that this methodology is the direct passage to scale social classes; it is, actually, a matter of social impact and economic growth.  It’s not just the individual impact of becoming a developer - we have to look at the big picture as well.

He also said that “the most important thing is that these jobs do not require a four-year degree in computer science, they do not require you to be an engineer". Obama also emphasizes that “you can train for these jobs in newer streamlined faster training programs and these jobs have wages 50% higher than average wages.“  He ended by saying that “no matter where you learned the code, it only matters how good you are at writing the code.

In a recent survey conducted by Indeed, among over 1000 professional recruiting managers in the United States, 72% of them feel that those that graduated from Coding Bootcamps are “as prepared” as college-bound professionals.

Wages: computer science degrees vs coding bootcamps

Being a good developer requires regular training.  What?  Education, yes.  However, at least 90% of them claim to be partially self-taught.

And, yes, that is also a way to get an education.  Among those developers, 32% say that formal education was not something important.  Actually, almost 10% got an education from a Coding Bootcamp.  And, yes, they are getting big money by doing what they learned at short-term programs.

Here you can compare some of them:

Web developers have shared their experiences of employment as professional developers. They have stated that their salaries started at $75,000.

There are several issues to take into consideration when trying to take the appropriate decision:

  • How long does it take?

  • How much money would I have to I invest?

  • How much money could I earn afterwards?

  • What opportunities are there for me?

  • What is my main goal?

  • What are the market expectations?

If you take 5 minutes to think about the first three questions, you may come to the conclusion that taking a Coding Bootcamp is the best choice.  The other 3 questions may be of more personal and individual concern.

Now, let’s talk about experience… as the experience of a web developer increases, their wage will do so as well.  Well, there is nothing new there since it’s a common rule everywhere.  However, what is captivating is the way that salary increases as you get more experience in Coding.  If you find a Job just after getting out of a Bootcamp, you will probably start earning around $50k-$55k.  Now, if you dedicate yourself to coding, to learning new languages and getting projects done, you will soon start to earn a lot more than that.  A developer, after 2-3 years of solid performance, can start to earn six figures

Before leaving you with the decision, consider this: imagine yourself in 3 years...

Then, hold both options: In one hand; Studying in a college to get a computer science degree, which could take 2-3 years to complete.  In the other hand, you have the 4-month training at a Coding Bootcamp.  What we can say is, for sure, that during those additional 3.5 years, you can do more than just go to college for a traditional education.