Web Developer Salary in California

California boasts some of the highest salaries in the country for many fields, including the booming tech industry. Home to Google, Apple, and Facebook, California’s Silicon Valley is the center of the technology world in the United States. Hundreds of tech companies employ thousands of web developers there, and it’s a great place to be if you want to work in the field. In this article, we’ll go over the average salaries for junior and senior web developers in the Golden State and share a proven method to break into their booming tech industry.

What does a Web Developer Do?

Web developers are responsible for building, designing, and maintaining websites and online software programs. They also manage security and provide updates for online programs, and ensure that a company’s website is both attractive and functional. There are three significant subcategories of web development, which we’ll cover briefly below.

Front-End Developers

These programmers deal with the ‘client-side’ of a website. They build and design the visual and functional aspects that site users interact with. Creative and artistic people excel in this position.

Backend Developers

Unlike client-side development, the work of a backend developer is rarely seen. The code they write for the ‘server-side’ of a website ensures that the system works. Backend developers make the site’s front-end works on the internet. Organized and rule-adherent people excel in this position.

Full-Stack Developer

This guy is the jack-of-all-trades in web development. Full-stack programmers master all aspects of website design and maintenance. People who want to manage the entire system will excel in this position.

Junior Web Developer Salary in California

Entry-level employees in web development are known as ‘juniors’ by employers in the industry. These candidates are not laymen—they’re well trained through college or coding bootcamps to do their job. The tech industry values experience highly, so even the best programmers must work for a few years to prove their worth before getting the big bucks. Despite their relative inexperience, junior web developers command an impressive starting salary. In the field, these newbie professionals can expect to earn upwards of $60,000 statewide. Salaries vary widely based on location within the state, such as in San Francisco, where the same employee earns an average salary of over $80,000. While that alone is impressive, junior web developers can expect their pay to increase with every year of experience.

Senior Web Developer Salary in California

Senior web developers have at least five years of experience or an advanced computing degree. Unlike junior positions, senior programmers earn average salaries in the six-figure range. Senior web developer responsibilities include more than just coding; they often manage or train less experienced employees along with their usual programming duties. This, combined with their valuable expertise, demands exceptional pay rates. Statewide, these experienced programmers earn a shockingly high average salary of $100,000! As you might expect, the same developer in San Francisco makes even more than the statewide average at $125,000 annually. As with junior positions in the field, senior web developers can expect their salary to increase as they gain experience. Many of them report annual incomes of nearly $200,000 after a few years, which continues to grow with time.

How to Become a Web Developer

Web development is a satisfying and lucrative tech career, especially in California. If you want to become a web developer, you’ll need a solid background in coding languages such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. A coding bootcamp will teach you everything you need to know in this position, and Career Karma can guide you through the complicated application process. If you want to learn more, click the link below.