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Comment by SMrF | Hacker News Reader

Are contracting rates really this low? I would have expected $150-$200/hour range for serious programming skills, which most on this list seem to have. Instead it looks like the number is somewhere between $75-$100.

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Maybe a form of selection bias. If you're a talented contractor worth $200/hour you probably already have work and aren't advertising on a google spreadsheet

In my experience most companies that pay 150-300/hr are big companies who get their people through contracting agencies. Which agencies of course take about half of that for themselves. As a lone programmer, unless you are very good at marketing, you find work with smaller shops, or startups, which can't afford that kind of rate. So you end up with roughly the same range ($90-150/hr) in pocket, whether working alone, or through a contract firm.

So the problem is not that the market for programmers is too big, it's the other way around: the market of jobs available at a better rate is too small and larger companies have this market cornered.

My hourly rate expectation was based on a few years working at Accenture and seeing rates for Java programmers. I figured it would be adjusted down for individual developers, but I didn't realize it would be that much.

Well, yeah, of course certain languages and skills are in much higher demand in corporate world, hence pay a lot higher.

But my personal criteria for now is more about whether I will enjoy working somewhere and learn useful things, rather than the amount of money I can make. I could get a dead-boring programming job and make probably 50% more than I do now, but right now I feel like I am learning a lot more, and like people I'm working with a lot more than I would in that situation.

Were the rates for Java programmers that:

- Accenture was hiring to build internal infrastructure for Accenture

- Accenture was hiring as subcontractors for Accenture's own consulting contracts

- worked fulltime for Accenture and were being hired out and billed to Accenture's clients

I didn't realize that rates were that high. I've only been charging like $25/hr for the freelance work I've been doing. Then again, I live in Ohio where the cost of living is pretty low and no one seems to have a lot of money.

Yeah, I moved from Columbus, Ohio to the Bay Area. Ohio is actually very low pay compared to most places. You just don't realize it if you grow up there.

There's a bit of a HN discount built-in, at least for me ($100/hr vs. $125 normally). Reason being I'd hope to get a lot clearer specs from folks here, which cuts out a lot of wasted time.

A) people are scared of asking for more

B) how much you can get isn't just a matter of programming skill. it also has to do with contacts and networking, which many people here are bad at

Personally for me is hard to find work at that rates (I live in Italy). I think I have the skills but I'd me more than happy to work for ~$50/hour part time remotely.

Just out of curiosity, is your $150-200/hr expectation based on empirical data, and for what programming languages? I'm certainly not discounting your statement, just looking for more information about from where that expectation arises.

Based on rates I saw for Java developers while working at Accenture for a few years. I adjusted down, assuming individual contractors wouldn't be able to bill out at the same rate, I just didn't adjust down enough...

Accenture, I imagine, has a lot of overhead. Freelancers, in general, don't. I rent an office for $200 a month and buy a laptop maybe every other year. All my business comes in via referrals. So my costs are pretty negligible. Thus a lower rate.

I'd imagine anyone on this list is in the top 5% of programmers at least but I don't think you'd get work here in Australia at $150-$200.

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