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$85k +/- 5k seems to be the average here out on the West Coast. I'm curious as to what the difference is for people with masters degrees or doctorates, though.
by donw 19y ago
$85k +/- 5k seems to be the average here out on the West Coast. I'm curious as to what the difference is for people with masters degrees or doctorates, though.
- csmajorfive 19y agoMasters is +10 in my experience.
- cperciva 19y agoI haven't seen anyone even suggest less than $100k for a newly minted doctorate in CS from a good university, and I've seen numbers in the $120k - $140k range thrown around. It sounds like East Coast hedge funds are even more generous.
- menloparkbum 19y agoI have. HR knows that CS PhDs will work for peanuts because they've had their financial self-esteem slowly beaten out of them over the past five years. East Coast hedge funds mostly hire physics and applied math PhDs. Masters +10 PhD -30 but YMMV.
- carterschonwald 19y agois that supposed to be +30? else that doesn't make sense?
- suboptimal 19y agoI think he means the PhDs have been flogged by academia longer than the Masters, who thus retain a modicum of self-worth. I don't know about starting salaries, but DC-area hiring is plentiful, and you should be able to hit $100k in a few years (if not sooner). Of course if you want to be under the bright lights, and not spend your career backstage, then: Go west, young man.
- cperciva 19y agoClearly CS PhDs are different from CS DPhils. :-)
- neilc 19y agoI think it depends on the job. If it doesn't take advantage of your research abilities, then a freshly-minted PhD (without other work experience) probably won't be paid too much more than a M. Sc. (less than an undergrad is plainly nonsense, though). But if you're taking a job at a place like MSR or IBM Research, not only is a PhD essentially a job requirement, but the starting salary is typically around $130k.
- hugh 19y agoWow, way to make me feel bad for being a postdoc! :( (Computational physics, not CS, but still...)
- cperciva 19y agoI worked as a postdoc for a while, too. The lower salary is the price to pay for having more freedom in our research (and freedom to publish). :-)
- notauser 19y agoHere in the UK the starting salary for coders outside London is around $45k (+$5k for a masters). However that is for a 37 hour working week. Most people can add 50% over basic in overtime (for 40% extra hours, due to premium rates). Northern Mexico is about $30k which, compared to basic cost of living, equates to about $120k in California :)
- immad 19y agoIn London, CS grads at banks get around $80k. IT consultants get $60k. You can't really survive on much less than that in London :)