TL;DR: Download the Scrum Master Salary Report 2017

Every now and then, the position of the scrum master is revealed as one of the top-paying jobs in the United States. However, few have ventured to investigate the state of this career path on a global scale. The Scrum Master Salary Report 2017 is the first salary survey of its kind.

Download the free ‘Scrum Master Salary Report 2017’ and learn more about one of the tech industry’s best career choices.

Update 2019-02-01: The latest edition is available now — the Scrum Master Trends Report 2019.

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The Making of the Scrum Master Salary Report 2017

We endeavored to unravel the career and financial background of this lucrative profession by polling scrum masters throughout the globe in the spring of 2017. Our 33 poll questions were communicated repeatedly over a course of three months during the sprint of 2017 via the Internet to thousands of scrum masters and agile coaches around the world. We utilized for this purpose Age of Product’s newsletter subscriber base, the top ten LinkedIn groups on agile topics, as well as Twitter, and other channels like Medium.

The poll covered the educational background, working experience, industries, and organizational details of the companies the respondents are working for as scrum masters or agile coaches. The poll’s objective was to identify common career patterns of successful scrum masters/agile coaches and link those to their financial remuneration, to provide aspiring scrum masters with an idea of how to plan a future career in this promising profession.

By May 1st, 2017, an overwhelming response of over 523 individuals, from Australia to the United States, led to this final report, now available for free—the Scrum Master Salary Report 2017.

We note that data was polled via a survey sent out only in English for three months, and this may have created some bias. Regardless, we interpret and make assumptions based on the best data available. For instance, in Ireland, we had only six responses and therefore cannot easily guarantee the strength of the data. Nonetheless, based on the data received we assume here that the greater the response, the truer the result.

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Five Learnings From the Scrum Master Salary Report 2017

Analyzing the results of the poll, we discovered five interesting findings:

Women have astounding opportunities and salary possibilities in this field. The United States is the highest paying country for scrum masters, while India is the lowest. Without some form of certification, getting onto the career path is almost impossible. Additional education has no effect on salary. Some form of previous experience is often a prerequisite.

Among the most astonishing findings in the background of scrum masters was that the wage gap between men and women is almost non-existent. The percentage of women in the role, albeit at a meager 30%, is on par with women in leadership roles (in the United States).

Additionally, it is noticeable that most of our respondents are quite optimistic about the ongoing agile transformation at their organization. Nearly 70% of our respondents have participated in an agile transition before, and they are quite confident that their current transformation is going in the right direction. One aspect that may play a part in this optimism is the fact that around 50% of respondents have previously worked on more than 10 projects. Scrum masters already have a great deal of experience, which may translate into more trust from management and teammates.

Lastly, we now also can answer the questions whether amassing agile certifications a valuable investment from a career perspective. But see for yourself by downloading your copy of the Scrum Master Salary Report 2017:

Update 2019-03-27: Watch the Webinar on the Scrum Master Trends Report 2019

Recently, I joined a webinar with Dave West—the CEO and Product Owner of Scrum.org—on the Scrum Master Trends Report 2019. We explored the results including salary trends and agile adoption patterns, addressed gender equality within the Scrum Master role, and answered questions from the audience. The video of the webinar is available now:

Scrum Master Trends Survey Results

Watch this video on YouTube

Note: If the browser will not start the video automatically, click here to watch the replay of the webinar on the Scrum Master Trends Report 2019 directly on Youtube.

📕 Now Available: ‘How to Get Hired as a Scrum Master’

Scrum Master Career: How to Get Hired as a Scrum Master: From Job Ads to Your Trial Day — Learn How to Pick the Right Employer or Client details how Scrum Masters and Agile Coaches can systematically identify suitable employers or clients to avoid mismatches and disappointments at a later stage. If you are planning a career move into the Scrum Master profession, don’t miss out on these tips.

Scrum Master Career: How to Get Hired as a Scrum Master is currently available as a Kindle ebook. Shortly, the paperback version will be available, too.

Conclusion: The Scrum Master Salary Report 2017

Initially, we thought that we would close the poll after May 1st, 2017. Instead, we have kept it open and continued accepting replies. Since that time, we have collected in total almost 900 replies. We now consider creating another product based on this wealth of information: the ‘Scrum Master Salary Calculator.’ This calculator shall be a permanently available report widget that allows everyone to query the database in real-time.

As far as the second edition of the Scrum Master Salary Report is concerned, we are preparing to start the polling season again in early February 2018. We will slightly change the questionnaire to better reflect some issues of the scrum master or agile coach career.

If you consider the Scrum Master Salary Report 2017 helpful, it would mean a lot to us if you could forward this article to friends and colleagues. Thank you in advance!

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