In the U.S., full-stack web developer pay usually spans $75k–$175k, with mid-career totals near six figures by role, city, and company tier.
Here’s a clear view of pay across experience bands, locations, and company types. You’ll see what drives ranges, how base, bonus, and equity stack up, and where the numbers come from. The goal: help you set expectations, negotiate with confidence, or benchmark a hiring budget without wading through noisy charts.
Full-Stack Web Developer Pay: The Fast Overview
Pay data bends by source, since each site samples a different crowd. To ground the view, the table below blends a federal baseline with live industry trackers. Use it as a starting point, then tune for your market.
| Source | Reported U.S. Pay | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Bureau Of Labor Statistics (Software Developers) | Median base: ~$133,000 (May 2024) | Role family aligned to this work |
| Glassdoor (Full-Stack titles) | Average total: ~$94,000–$136,000 | Varies by title and market |
| Built In (nationwide) | Average total: ~$176,000 | Self-reported; hub-heavy sample |
| Stack Overflow Survey 2024 | Common band: ~$60,000–$85,000 globally | Mixed regions and roles |
| Levels.fyi (Software Engineer) | Median total: ~$187,500 | Incl. base + stock + bonus |
How Pay Breaks Down
Compensation arrives in three parts: base salary, cash bonus, and equity. For many web teams, base is the lion’s share. Bonus often lands at 5–15% for mid-level staff in product companies. Equity matters most at larger tech firms and funded startups, where annualized stock can rival a two-month paycheck in up-cycles. In smaller agencies, equity is rare and cash dominates.
Base Salary
Base tracks skills that move product outcomes: building reliable services, shipping client features, solving performance pain, and owning on-call rotations. Senior titles pull higher bands by handling scope and mentoring. Titles vary, yet the pattern holds across markets.
Bonus
Cash bonus hinges on company plan and team results. In product orgs, individual multipliers tie to goals like feature launches, reliability targets, or growth KPIs. Contract shops tend to pay slimmer bonuses since revenue rises and falls with client work.
Equity
Equity shows up as RSUs or options with a standard four-year schedule. Value swings with stock price and refresh grants. At brand-name firms, equity can be a large slice of the package even for mid-career hires. In early-stage startups, options may carry outsized upside with higher risk.
What Moves The Number Up Or Down
Several levers move comp bands. These are the ones hiring managers cite most when calibrating offers:
- City And Cost Of Living: Pay is richest in Bay Area, Seattle, and New York, then dips in smaller metros and remote roles tied to national bands.
- Company Tier: Big tech and well funded AI players pay at the top, while agencies and small startups run leaner cash bands.
- Scope And Impact: Owning a user-facing surface and a service tier tends to pay more than narrow task work.
- Stack Breadth: Fluency across a front-end library, an API layer, and a database wins higher offers.
- Reliability Work: Pager duty, incident response, and performance tuning pull extra pay inside many orgs.
- Domain: Fintech, ads, and security often outpay content sites and brochureware builds.
How Location Shifts Pay
Geography swings offers more than any other single factor. A mid-level generalist in San Jose or Seattle may see a package that doubles a similar role in a smaller city. Remote roles priced to national bands split the difference. If a company tiers by geo, ask which band your location maps to and whether a move would reprice your pay later.
High-Pay Metros
Bay Area, New York, and Seattle lead the pack. Austin, Boston, and Denver sit in the next cluster. Many firms run satellite teams in Raleigh, Atlanta, and Salt Lake City with mid-tier bands.
Remote Pay
Remote bands land near the 50th–65th percentile of big-city pay. Firms that hire nationwide may publish a transparent table; others use recruiter notes. Ask for the range during the first call so you can align early.
How Much Full-Stack Web Developers Earn By Level
This section explains how scope maps to money. Titles differ by company, yet the arc looks similar: start by shipping with review, grow into full cycle ownership, then lead systems and people. The range expands as you take on reliability and coaching.
Skills That Raise Your Number
Hiring teams pay more when you can solve both product and platform needs. These areas move offers:
- Modern Front End: Deep React, Vue, or Svelte skills with accessibility and performance habits.
- API And Data: Strong TypeScript or Go on the server, REST and GraphQL fluency, SQL chops, and a feel for indexes and query plans.
- Cloud And CI: Comfort with a major cloud, container builds, pipelines, and observability.
- Security Basics: OWASP top-10 instincts and safe defaults.
- Product Taste: Ability to cut scope wisely and ship fast while keeping quality high.
Negotiation Moves That Work
Strong offers come from clear signals. Bring a tight portfolio or repo links, quantify wins, and show how you measure reliability and speed. Ask for the full range early, stack competing offers when you have them, and trade where the company has room: start date, sign-on, equity refresh, remote setup, or conference budget.
What To Ask Recruiters
- Which geo band applies to my location?
- How are bonus and equity calculated and refreshed?
- What is the on-call load and how is it compensated?
- Which level and scope are you targeting with this opening?
Agency, Startup, And Big Tech Differences
Agencies trade variety for slimmer packages. Startups offer lower base with stock upside. Large product companies post higher totals and clearer ladders. If you’re switching tracks, map your priorities: cash stability, growth runway, or a swing at equity upside.
Why AI-Heavy Teams Pay More
Teams building AI-powered features need engineers who can wrangle data, integrate model APIs, and guard privacy. Packages can stretch well past standard bands at firms chasing that plan. The same core web skills still matter; the premium appears when your work moves usage and revenue.
Role Levels And Typical Ranges
Titles vary. The ladder below matches common scope bands across employers. Treat ranges as a planning tool, then adjust for city and sector.
| Level | Common Total Range | What The Work Looks Like |
|---|---|---|
| Entry (0–1 years) | $70k–$110k | Ships tasks with review; learns the stack; closes bugs |
| Mid (2–5 years) | $100k–$160k | Builds features full cycle; owns small services; mentors occasionally |
| Senior (5–8 years) | $150k–$220k | Leads projects; shapes APIs; guides reviews; improves reliability |
| Staff+ (8+ years) | $220k–$400k+ | Sets patterns; unblocks teams; drives cross-org outcomes |
Market Benchmarks You Can Trust
Government data anchors the baseline for the broader software group. The median listed for U.S. software developers sits around $133,000 for May 2024 wages on the official wage table. Industry trackers then layer real-time signals on top. Glassdoor aggregates employee reports for titles labeled “full stack” and points to averages around the low- to mid-hundreds. Levels.fyi compiles verified offers and shows tech-company packages with larger equity slices. The annual developer survey skews lower because it includes many global entries and a wide range of roles.
When linking, point to the exact rule or dataset page, not a homepage. For salary research, a direct wage table link or a survey pay section helps readers verify the number in one click.
How To Build A Target Number
Combine three anchors: a public baseline for software wages, a crowd-sourced view for your title, and a company-level read for total comp. Weigh city, level, and equity policy. Then pick a number at the top of the published range when you bring strong proof of impact.
Example Targeting Flow
Pick your market and level. Pull the federal median for software developers. Check two live trackers for your title variant. Add a premium for high-cost metros or AI-leaning work if that matches the role. Land on a range and set a walk-away number before your first chat.
Sources And Method Notes
This guide draws on a federal wage table for the broader software occupation group and well known industry trackers. Agency and startup markets were informed by active postings and recent recruiter ranges. Salary sites differ in sample and method, so you’ll see tension between numbers. Treat them as signposts and benchmark with live offers.
Helpful Links For Salary Research
Check the federal wage table and the annual developer survey for current medians and ranges. Company-level snapshots on offer trackers help map equity and bonus by level.
Markets shift with hiring and stock swings. Update your benchmark each quarter, and cite source plus month so readers can compare clearly.