The labor landscape is constantly evolving for those who know how to code. New developer types are emerging. More developers are going remote (and getting better, higher-paying jobs because of it). More than most professions, developers enjoy what they do, and it shows: nearly every developer spends time coding on the side.

Full-stack web developer 32.4% Student 13.6% Back-end web developer 10.1% Mobile developer (all) 9.1% Desktop developer 8.3% Front-end web developer 6.0% Enterprise level services developer 2.9% Embedded application developer 2.9% Executive (VP of Eng., CTO, CIO, etc.) 1.8% System administrator 1.6% Database administrator 0.6% 22,148 responses Full-stack web developer 26.8% Student 13.9% Back-end web developer 9.7% Mobile developer (all) 7.9% Desktop developer 9.8% Front-end web developer 5.2% Enterprise level services developer 3.6% Embedded application developer 2.5% Executive (VP of Eng., CTO, CIO, etc.) 1.4% System administrator 2.1% Database administrator 0.8% 7,346 responses Full-stack web developer 29.0% Student 8.6% Back-end web developer 9.3% Mobile developer (all) 7.7% Desktop developer 11.3% Front-end web developer 5.1% Enterprise level services developer 5.3% Embedded application developer 2.6% Executive (VP of Eng., CTO, CIO, etc.) 2.4% System administrator 2.7% Database administrator 0.8% 8,218 responses

We provided respondents with a list of 24 common developer types and asked them to choose the occupation that best describes what they do. For the third year in a row, "full-stack developer" was the most common response.

Mobile Developer - Android 44.6% Mobile Developer - iOS 33.4% Mobile developer 19.8% Mobile developer - Windows Phone 2.3%

1,900 responses

Of more than 22,000 respondents, 1,900 said they are primarily a mobile developer. Android developers outnumber iOS developers 4 to 3. Just over 2% of mobile developers identify as Windows Phone developers. 20% of mobile developers don't identify with a particular mobile platform.

Developer with a statistics or mathematics background 45.6% Data scientist 40.2% Machine learning developer 14.2%

1,018 responses

We've been able to identify a number of emerging developer types by observing patterns in Stack Overflow users' browsing behavior. Developers with a stats and math background and machine learning developers are a couple of these new dev types. Data scientist is a related developer type that is slightly more established.

DevOps 1.5% Business intelligence or data warehousing expert 0.8% Graphics programmer 0.7% Quality Assurance 0.7% Product Manager 0.7% Designer 0.7% Database administrator 0.5% Growth hacker 0.3% Multiple choice and write-in responses Game developer or designer 0.3% "Full-stack developer and..." 0.2% Scientist 0.1% Professor or teacher 0.1% Analyst 0.1% Astrophysicist 0.01% Farmer 0.01% I shoot lasers at stuffz 0.005% Multiple choice and write-in responses

The spectrum of developer types is vast, and it's often unclear where one type ends and another begins. More than 300 respondents identified as DevOps, nearly 200 identified as business intelligence or data warehousing experts, and 59 identified as "growth hacker" – the smallest segment of developers among the multiple choice options.

"Other" developer types make the field even more interesting: nearly 1,600 respondents submitted a write-in response for occupation. Game developers and designers made up the largest segment among write-in dev types. More than 100 write-in respondents included multiple dev types in their occupation choice. Only one respondent wrote in that he/she works with lasers.

Software Products 25% Web Services / Internet 17% Finance / Banking 8% Consulting 7% Media / Advertising / Entertainment and Gaming 7% Health / Biotech / Science 5% Education / Academia / Research 5% Telecommunications 4% Government 3% Other 20% 16,160 responses Software Products 45% Web Services / Internet 19% Finance / Banking 6% Consulting 4% Media / Advertising / Entertainment and Gaming 4% Health / Biotech / Science 3% Education / Academia / Research 3% Telecommunications 3% Government 1% Other 13% 16,160 responses Software Products 29% Web Services / Internet 21% Finance / Banking 9% Consulting 3% Media / Advertising / Entertainment and Gaming 9% Health / Biotech / Science 3% Education / Academia / Research 2% Telecommunications 5% Government 2% Other 16% 16,160 responses Software Products 18% Web Services / Internet 14% Finance / Banking 8% Consulting 7% Media / Advertising / Entertainment and Gaming 7% Health / Biotech / Science 7% Education / Academia / Research 5% Telecommunications 2% Government 4% Other 27% 16,160 responses

Respondents from developed countries are more likely than others to say they work in an industry outside the traditional software powerhouses.

Objective-C $98,828 Node.js $96,539 C# $94,280 C++ $91,739 SQL $91,431 C $91,264 Ruby $90,536 JavaScript $90,259 Java $89,054 Python $88,966 PHP $77,322 Objective-C $58,688 Node.js $59,227 C# $59,978 C++ $56,680 SQL $55,740 C $55,259 Ruby $60,000 JavaScript $55,425 Java $53,404 Python $56,192 PHP $46,060 Objective-C $24,844 Node.js $28,543 C# $26,025 C++ $22,905 SQL $24,940 C $24,423 Ruby $24,714 JavaScript $24,968 Java $25,559 Python $25,640 PHP $22,563 19,483 responses

We asked respondents how much they earn in US dollars, including bonus. We cross tabulated compensation with competency in specific technologies to see which tech pays best.

Niche or emerging technologies pay big bucks. So does big data and cloud computing. This may reflect a shortage of certain skills in the workforce – companies are willing to pay more when hiring for cutting edge skillsets. It's also likely that developers with niche competencies are just better developers all around.

Top Paying Technologies Cassandra 152% Spark 148% F# 144% Scala 132% Rust 131% Hadoop 131% Cloud (AWS, GAE, Azure, etc.) 126% Redis 125% Go 121% Clojure 114% 13,110 responses from top 35 responding countries. Average salary calculated per country.

Country How many Big Macs can you buy? Average Salary Ukraine 21,825 $26,190.48 South Africa 19,215 $42,658.23 United States 18,712 $89,631.68 Australia 17,802 $76,904.76 Russia 17,571 $23,897.28 United Kingdom 15,757 $68,860.59 Israel 15,280 $68,000 Canada 14,711 $68,262.48 Ireland 14,661 $62,456.14 New Zealand 14,042 $63,052.63 China 13,803 $38,235.29 Among countries with at least 100 survey respondents. Based on The Economist's Jan 2015 Big Mac Index.

When it comes to quality of life, dollars, Euros and Yen don't matter. Big Macs matter. The Economist's Big Mac Index is a measure of purchasing power parity that can be used to compare the true value of compensation between workers in different economies.

Where can an average developer eat the most (and live the best)? The survey says: Ukraine, where Big Macs cost only about $1.20.

Full-time remote 114.1% Part-time remote 108.0% Rarely remote 97.4% Never remote 79.7% Average salaries calculated per country among respondents from top 35 responding countries. Full-time remote 113.0% Part-time remote 110.4% Rarely remote 105.8% Never remote 90.5% Average salaries calculated per country among respondents from top 35 responding countries. Full-time remote 140.8% Part-time remote 112.2% Rarely remote 94.9% Never remote 72.5% Average salaries calculated per country among respondents from top 35 responding countries. Full-time remote 150.0% Part-time remote 100.1% Rarely remote 96.4% Never remote 76.3% Average salaries calculated per country among respondents from top 35 responding countries. Full-time remote 123.4% Part-time remote 102.2% Rarely remote 99.9% Never remote 76.3% Average salaries calculated per country among respondents from top 35 responding countries.

Remote work pays. Developers who work remotely full-time earn about 40% more than those who never work remote. The disparity is more pronounced in developing countries.

10,000+ 135% 5,000 to 9,999 121% 500 to 4,999 108% 2 to 499 91% 1 83%

% average salary by country. 13,224 respondents from top 35 responding countries.

We always said participating on Stack Overflow is good for your career. Now we have proof.

In truth, we don't know that there's any causal link between reputation and compensation, but indulge us for a moment. If rep equals money, you could get a 10% raise just by going from 1 to 100 rep on Stack Overflow. If rep equals money, you would only reach average developer status once you earned between 200-499 rep. And you'd earn 135% average salary once you hit 10,000 rep. It may be a good time to hunt a bounty...

Employed full-time 66.3% I'm a student 15.9% Freelance / Contractor 9.0% Employed part-time 4.2% Unemployed 2.0% Retired 0.3% Prefer not to disclose 1.2% Other 1.1%

21,306 responses

If you're a software developer, you probably have a job. 97.5% of workforce respondents are employed in at least a part-time capacity.

And even if you work full-time, you probably code on the side. The average fully employed developer spends more than 6 hours every week working on open source, side- or hobby projects. Retired developers spend nearly 3 times as many hours on hobby projects. Code is life for most devs, and for many coding is a lifetime pursuit.

Time Spent Coding on the Side Employed full-time 6 hours 13 min I'm a student 9 hours 11 min Freelance / Contractor 8 hours 59 min Employed part-time 7 hours 41 min Unemployed 13 hours 28 min Retired 16 hours 22 min 16,483 respondents

I love my job 36.0% I'm somewhat satisfied with my job 40.4% I'm neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with my job 11.0% I'm somewhat dissatisfied with my job 9.7% I hate my job 1.9%

16,174 responses

We asked respondents how satisfied they are with their current job or jobs. 76% of developers report being at least satisfied with their job, and 36% love their job. Developers are generally more fulfilled by work than most employees.

And developers in Iran are more satisfied with their jobs than developers anywhere else. Stack Overflow Jobs may not have any jobs available in Iran, but you can still move there and apply for one of our many available remote jobs.

Job satisfaction by Geography Country Average Satisfaction Score Iran 3.78 Netherlands 3.69 Norway 3.68 Israel 3.63 Denmark 3.61 Switzerland 3.58 Highest satisfaction scores among countries with 100 or more respondents. Satisfactions scores calculated as average of responses, with extra weight given to "I love my job."

Executive (VP of Eng., CTO, CIO, etc.) 3.90 Machine learning developer 3.63 Mobile developer - iOS 3.58 Mobile developer 3.57 Developer with a statistics or mathematics background 3.43 16,288 responses Product manager 2.97 Business intelligence or data warehousing expert 3.05 Graphics programmer 3.15 Back-end web developer 3.21 Quality Assurance 3.21 16,288 responses

It feels good to be the boss. Executives are 16% more satisfied (on an arbitrary 5-point scale) than average (3.36). Product managers are generally the least satisfied with their jobs.

Full-time Remote 10.4% Part-time Remote 18.6% I rarely work remote 48.1% Never 22.8%

16,154 responses

29% of developers work at least part-time remote. This is up from 21% last year. More developers are choosing to work from home and more companies are embracing the remote workplace. (We're one of those companies.)

It's non-negotiable 4.1% Very important 16.7% Somewhat important 29.1% Neutral - I don't mind working in the office or remotely 39.3% Not important 10.8%

18,890 responses

Code is breaking down cubicle walls. 50% of developers say working remote is at least somewhat important. Note to companies trying to hire: if your job listing doesn't include remote, you could be cutting your possible applicant pool in half. And you may be eliminating the most qualified developers from consideration. Stack Overflow users with 5,000+ rep are twice more likely than other developers to say "remote optional" is non-negotiable.