Pay and rates

What web developers earn, and what to charge

National and state pay for web developers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (May 2025), plus a calculator to turn a wage into an hourly rate for your own business.

Quick answer

Web developers in the US earn a median of $44.54 an hour ($92,650 a year), according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data for May 2025. The middle half earn $30.88 to $60.69. Self-employed web developers usually bill more, about $102 an hour at the median wage, to cover taxes, overhead, unbilled time, and profit.

Web developers pay in the US

Hourly wages for 70,190 employed web developers, May 2025.

Hourly pay percentiles for web developers in the United States
Lowest 10%25th percentileMedian75th percentileTop 10%
$23.12 $30.88 $44.54 $60.69 $78.03

Turn a wage into a billing rate

Wages above are what employers pay web developers. If you work for yourself, your rate also has to cover what an employer would pay for. Change any number to match your business.

Starts at the national median for web developers

Self-employment tax, liability insurance, benefits

Hours you can charge for after quotes, travel, and admin

Tools, vehicle, software, marketing

What the business keeps after paying you

Suggested billing rate

$102 per hour

Pay x (1 + taxes) x (1 + overhead) x (1 + profit), divided by billable time. This is an estimate to start from, not a market price.

Use this rate in an estimate

Pay by state

Median hourly pay in the 44 states with published data, highest first.

Hourly pay for web developers by state
State Median Middle half Employed
Washington $62.71 $47.51 to $62.99 4,430
Virginia $61.72 $48.07 to $77.50 4,590
California $57.48 $38.76 to $76.46 7,320
District of Columbia $55.14 $44.15 to $66.18 430
Maryland $54.18 $40.65 to $62.42 1,960
Missouri $49.88 $39.96 to $60.39 1,160
Minnesota $48.57 $34.86 to $61.76 1,200
Utah $48.16 $31.74 to $63.09 1,280
New York $47.39 $27.08 to $63.86 3,990
Massachusetts $47.34 $38.71 to $64.96 1,940
Michigan $47.34 $30.21 to $56.67 1,580
Rhode Island $47.18 $44.85 to $50.26 N/A
North Carolina $46.45 $35.04 to $58.91 2,030
New Jersey $45.76 $26.72 to $59.88 2,250
Wisconsin $43.57 $31.97 to $57.62 1,180
Georgia $43.43 $31.04 to $51.47 1,500
Pennsylvania $41.53 $29.58 to $50.34 1,670
Colorado $41.32 $30.54 to $51.11 1,680
Connecticut $41.31 $30.99 to $51.42 750
Texas $41.25 $29.79 to $57.20 4,910
Louisiana $41.03 $31.89 to $42.96 490
Illinois $40.78 $34.61 to $56.30 4,310
Vermont $40.65 $38.04 to $52.95 70
Nevada $40.01 $26.47 to $58.29 340
Kentucky $39.73 $31.89 to $49.94 270
Indiana $38.88 $29.96 to $48.15 860
Nebraska $38.63 $27.00 to $48.41 230
Idaho $38.12 $29.44 to $46.64 220
Oklahoma $37.78 $26.00 to $46.22 410
New Hampshire $37.63 $29.56 to $52.97 470
West Virginia $37.62 $30.32 to $38.12 400
South Carolina $37.59 $29.69 to $49.09 710
Arizona $36.65 $28.45 to $50.48 1,010
Delaware $36.55 $33.56 to $42.93 N/A
Tennessee $35.94 $27.75 to $50.13 1,620
Kansas $35.38 $28.66 to $46.63 500
North Dakota $34.71 $29.12 to $39.79 N/A
Wyoming $32.89 $28.56 to $33.65 50
New Mexico $32.75 $26.41 to $41.77 130
Oregon $30.99 $24.37 to $44.85 1,140
Iowa $30.87 $27.75 to $43.23 420
Montana $29.84 $29.84 to $33.01 550
South Dakota $24.57 $22.86 to $28.50 390
Arkansas $24.30 $21.73 to $32.35 400

States are left out when BLS does not publish an estimate for them.

Web developers pay FAQ

How much do web developers make an hour?

The national median is $44.54 an hour. The lowest-paid 10% earn under $23.12 and the top 10% earn over $78.03. Pay depends on location, experience, and specialty.

Which state pays web developers the most?

Washington has the highest median at $62.71 an hour, and Arkansas the lowest at $24.30, among the 44 states with published data. Higher-paying states usually have higher living costs too.

How much should a self-employed web developer charge per hour?

Start from the pay you want, then add taxes and insurance, overhead, and profit, and divide by the share of hours you can bill. At the median wage and our default assumptions, that comes to about $102 an hour. Use the calculator on this page to plug in your own numbers.

Where does this pay data come from?

From the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey (May 2025), occupation "Web Developers". It covers employees on payrolls, not self-employed workers or business owners.

Source

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, occupation 15-1254 "Web Developers". Figures are wages for employees and do not include self-employed workers. The billing rate is our estimate using the assumptions in the calculator.

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