New web developers in the U.S. average $60k–$85k per year, with city, stack, and internships nudging pay up or down.
Wondering what a first offer looks like in web dev? Here’s a clear, data-backed view so you can benchmark pay, weigh trade-offs, and plan your next steps. You’ll see trusted sources, plain math, and concrete ways to lift your number in the first year.
What Counts As Entry Level In Web Dev
“Entry level” usually means zero to two years of professional experience writing production code. That can include internships, freelance work with shipped sites, open-source contributions, and bootcamp capstones. Titles vary: “Junior Web Developer,” “Front-End Developer I,” or “Associate Software Engineer.” The posting might still ask for 1–2 years; many teams count serious internships and portfolio work toward that bar.
Entry-Level Web Developer Pay: What New Hires Earn
Pay varies by metro, industry, and stack, yet national data points land in a fairly tight band. Government data tracks the field as a whole, while job boards reflect live offers and self-reported pay. The table below brings those signals together.
| Source | Typical Annual Pay | Scope/Notes |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. BLS | $48k–$90k+ (occupation-wide) | Occupational medians and percentiles for web devs and digital interface roles (May 2024 dataset). |
| Glassdoor | ~$84k avg (range to low $60k–$110k+) | Self-reported total pay for “Entry Level Web Developer” in the U.S. (2025 snapshots). |
| Indeed | ~$69k avg (low $40k–high $110k+) | Aggregated from postings and reported pay; updated routinely. |
| ZipRecruiter | ~$94k avg | Marketplace averages and percentiles from recent listings (U.S.). |
Government figures show the occupation’s center line: web developers around the low- to mid-$90k median and digital interface designers a notch above that. Job-board data spreads wider because of location, company tier, and bonus equity. Pair both views for a balanced picture.
Where The Numbers Come From
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics profile lists medians and percentiles for web roles and updates annually. Community surveys show trends across stacks and titles; the Stack Overflow survey reports pay medians by role and tech each year. Job-board trackers like Glassdoor and Indeed reflect live offers and self-reported packages.
What Changes The First Offer
Several levers move entry pay. Some are inside your control; others are market-driven. Work the ones you can and frame the rest when you negotiate.
Location And Cost Of Living
Large hubs (Bay Area, New York, Seattle, Boston) pay more due to higher living costs and dense tech hiring. Many roles remain remote-friendly, yet pay bands often track the candidate’s state or region. A remote role based at a high-pay HQ can lift the band; a role tied to a lower-cost area may trim it.
Company Stage And Industry
Well-funded SaaS, fintech, or enterprise teams tend to post wider ranges and include equity. Agencies, nonprofits, and smaller local firms lean toward cash-only offers with tighter bands. Growth-stage startups might post mid-range cash plus meaningful stock, while mature firms may offer steady cash, annual bonus, and a 401(k) match.
Stack And Role Shape
Modern front-end stacks (React, Next.js, TypeScript) and full-stack JavaScript roles draw strong demand. Back-end roles that pair Node or Java with cloud services also score well. Adding testing, accessibility, and performance skills helps you stand out in resume screens and live coding rounds.
Internships, Projects, And Signals Of Readiness
Two or three shipped projects with clear readmes, tests, and live links can replace a year of “official” experience. An internship at a known brand lifts confidence in your readiness to handle production tasks from week one.
Degree, Bootcamp, Or Self-Taught
Excellent work samples beat labels. That said, some teams still filter by degree for compliance or internal policy. Bootcamp grads with polished portfolios, measurable results, and strong references land offers every hiring cycle.
Offers By Metro And Remote Setups
Metro differences show up fast in ranges. A junior seat in a coastal hub often posts a larger base and bigger add-ons; a regional role may come in lower but with gentler living costs. Remote offers can split the difference: base linked to your tax home, yet with access to national-scale projects. If you’re open to relocation, compare after-tax income and rent before picking the bigger number.
Skills That Move Pay Faster
Early in your career, the fastest raises usually come from shipping real features and reducing risk for teammates. Pick a few skills that line up with that goal, then prove them in code and metrics.
Front-End Fluency
Deepen React or Vue beyond tutorials: routing, data fetching, state patterns, accessibility, performance budgets, and test coverage near the hot paths. Ship a small app with Lighthouse scores and a clean CI pipeline.
API And Database Basics
Comfort with REST/GraphQL, auth flows, and a relational store (PostgreSQL or MySQL) unlocks full-stack tickets. Add a simple migration strategy and a rollback plan to show mature habits.
Cloud And Deploys
Automated builds, preview environments, and a one-command deploy keep teams moving. Learn a managed host (Vercel, Netlify) and one general cloud path (AWS Lightsail or ECS). Keep secrets out of repos and add basic monitoring.
Testing And Stability
Unit tests on pure logic, component tests on UI states, and a light end-to-end flow catch breakage early. Even a small suite can trim bug churn and speed releases, which managers value during review time.
Negotiating A First Offer Without Guesswork
Bring three anchors: your target band from current data, a short list of comparable postings, and proof of impact from your projects. Ask for the top of the band when you carry internships or shipped work that match the team’s stack. If cash feels tight, look for a signing bonus, a six-month comp review, or a work-from-home stipend.
Sample First-Year Plan And Likely Raises
Map the first year to outcomes that hiring managers love. Use this as a template, then swap in your stack and company goals.
| Quarter | Deliverables | Pay Signal |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 | Ship two small features; add tests; fix 5–10 bugs; document setup steps. | Shows reliability and speed on tickets; builds trust for tougher work. |
| Q2 | Own a feature end-to-end; set up preview deploys; raise accessibility scores. | Demonstrates autonomy; improves product quality for all teammates. |
| Q3 | Cut page weight or API time by 20–30%; reduce error rate; improve logging. | Quantified impact that often unlocks a raise during mid-year cycles. |
| Q4 | Lead a small refactor; write a runbook; mentor a new intern or hire. | Signals readiness for the next level on the team ladder. |
Real Offer Math: Converting Hourly To Annual
Plenty of early roles quote hourly pay. Convert it to apples-to-apples annual cash so you can compare offers.
Simple Conversion
Annual base ≈ hourly rate × 2,000. That assumes 40 hours per week across 50 working weeks. If a contract pays $38/hour, that’s about $76,000 per year before taxes. A $45/hour contract lands near $90,000.
When Hours Vary
If a contract lists “30–40 hours,” run both ends. Ask about unpaid holidays, sick days, and bench time between projects. Ask whether overtime is paid or blended into the rate.
How To Read A Total Compensation Package
Cash is only one piece. Review every line and translate it to yearly value so you can compare.
Base Pay
The recurring amount every paycheck. Raises usually attach to review cycles or milestones, so ask when those happen.
Bonus
Company or personal bonus can add a few thousand dollars to year-one pay. Ask if targets are realistic and how often payouts occur.
Equity
Stock grants vest over time. Early grants can grow, yet they carry risk. Check the vesting schedule, cliffs, and refresh cycles. If the company plans a new round or listing, timelines matter.
Benefits And Perks
Health plan, retirement match, learning budget, home-office stipend, and paid time off all carry real value. A 3% 401(k) match on a $75k base is $2,250 you would not get elsewhere.
Make The Resume Match The Pay Band
Hiring teams skim for signals that map directly to their stack and problems. Shape your story so those signals jump out in seconds.
Prove You Can Ship
Two to three links to live projects with a short note on your slice of the work beat a long skills list. Add a clear readme, short Loom demo, and tests for the riskiest paths.
Show The Numbers
Replace fluffy claims with outcomes: “Reduced Largest Contentful Paint from 4.5s to 2.1s,” “Cut error rate on checkout from 1.8% to 0.6%,” “Increased sign-ups by 12% after form rewrite.”
Match Keywords Without Stuffing
Mirror the posting’s stack and tools naturally: React, Next.js, Node, TypeScript, Tailwind, Jest, Cypress, PostgreSQL, AWS. Keep it honest and back each item with a repo or shipped feature.
Interview Tactics That Boost Offers
Show how you think, not just what you know. Break problems into steps, write small tests, then refactor. Ask the interviewer about the team’s deploy process, code review habits, and on-call rotation. Share a short post-interview note with a link to a tiny repo that mirrors a topic from the call; this stands out.
When To Say Yes
An offer makes sense when the base lands in range for your metro, the total package beats your next best option, and the role gives you room to ship meaningful work. If the number feels light, ask about a signing bonus, a title bump, or a six-month pay review tied to concrete outcomes.
Quick Application Checklist For New Web Devs
- Two or three polished projects with live links, tests, and readmes.
- Resume that mirrors the posting’s stack without buzzword stuffing.
- GitHub cleaned up: clear commit messages, issues, and PRs that tell a story.
- Short cover note naming the product, the stack, and a recent release you liked.
- Salary band research with sources and two comparable postings.
- Interview practice: array methods, closures, async flows, simple SQL, and HTTP basics.
- References who can speak to shipped work and teamwork.
Bottom Line For New Web Dev Pay
Most first-year web dev offers land between the high-$50s and mid-$80s, with outliers on both sides based on metro, stack, and company tier. Use government medians to frame the market, live job-board ranges to set anchors, and shipped work to justify the top of the band. Keep learning, ship often, and your second cycle tends to jump faster than you expect.