$300K would be a contract rate for someone with 10 years of experience, with your own LLC and insurance. It is pretty easy to find contract positions for $120

$300K would be a contract rate for someone with 10 years of experience, with your own LLC and insurance. It is pretty easy to find contract positions for $120 per hour, and higher responsibility/skill positions for $150 per hour. And the LLC and related insurance costs per year are trivial. On the east coast, skilled software engineers (not programmers, necessarily) with 10+ years can expect at least $140K plus benefits as a full time employee, and it is pretty typical to see $160K.