Demand for mobile apps by businesses should make it advantageous to work as a contract developer. But just how much can you expect to earn?
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The figures below show the typical per-day contractor rates for contract developers in the most recent Peoplebank salary survey. (We’ve previously looked at the salaries for permanent roles highlighted in that survey.)
These figures are the standard daily rate and don’t include superannuation, commission, bonuses or other benefits.
| Role | NSW | ACT | VIC | QLD | WA | SA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| iOS Developer | $600-$950 | $600-$720 | $400-$800 | $450-$870 | $500-$850 | $450-$700 |
| Android Developer | $600-$950 | $600-$720 | $400-$800 | $450-$900 | $480-$800 | $440-$700 |
| Oracle Developer | $600-$800 | $720-$1040 | $500-$750 | $450-$860 | $400-$720 | $440-$880 |
| Sharepoint Developer | $600-$950 | $720-$1040 | $550-$1000 | $460-$930 | $560-$800 | $280-$720 |
| .Net Developer | $600-$800 | $600-$720 | $500-$750 | $420-$800 | $400-$680 | $360-$760 |
| Java/J2EE Developer | $560-$750 | $600-$720 | $500-$750 | $410-$720 | $400-$680 | $360-$760 |
| Data Warehouse/ETL Developer | $650-$850 | $680-$1040 | $660-$970 | $560-$1070 | $640-$960 | $480-$880 |
Because these are the rates that are paid by companies that are willing to pay a recruiter to fill roles, they undoubtedly reflect the higher end of the potential scale. If you’re sourcing jobs online, it would be unlikely that you’d score similar rates. (In many of those cases, you’re also likely to be asked to quote on a project basis. You still need to value your time appropriately when formulating those quotes, but the mechanics will be somewhat different.)
The ongoing demand for mobile app developers is reflected in the fact that rates for iOS and Android developers range higher than most of the enterprise roles listed here. With that said, recruited roles are likely to be for the development of business-facing apps anyway, and you’ll need knowledge of how to interact with business systems as well in those cases. There’s no real difference in the rates paid for iOS and Android, which reflects their similar standing in the Australian marketplace right now.
Update: Fixed my idiot error were I said the rates were per-hour, not per-day. Sorry about that folks — I wish!
Comments
One response to “What Do Contract Developer Jobs Pay?”
Would that be hourly, or, please, would that be daily rates?
These are daily rates not hourly…check out the source.
They are daily rates.
$600 per hour? I wish!