If you’re planning to hire a Ukrainian programmer, you should know that the average developer salary in Ukraine ranges between $2K and $5K a month. Depending on experience and level of workplace responsibility, the annual salary of a Ukrainian developer in Kyiv, Dnipro, Kharkiv, and Lviv can be as low as $24K or reach $72K and more.
Continue reading to learn more about:
- Average Salary of a Software Developer in Ukraine
- What Influences Developer Salaries in Ukraine?
- Number of Software Developers in Ukraine
- Best Ukrainian Cities for Hiring Developers — Kyiv, Dnipro, Kharkiv, and Lviv
- Why You Should Hire Software Developers in Ukraine
What Is the Average Salary of a Software Developer in Ukraine?
In Ukraine, an average salary for a senior software developer is $48K a year and around $4K a month. According to PayScale, the average monthly salary for a middle-level software developer in Ukraine is $2.5K. That means that a middle software programmer earns around $30K a year. SalaryExpert informs that the entry-level salary for a software developer in Ukraine begins at $1.5K a month which can amount to $18K annual salary.
Salary is just one of the aspects that attract foreign businesses to hire Ukrainian developers. So you might be interested in familiarizing yourself with the buyer's guide to outsourcing to Ukraine.
About the Method
Here and throughout the article, we’ve indicated average salaries of software developers taken from one of the largest online tech communities in Ukraine DOU.UA, PayScale, Accelerance, and SalaryExpert and contrasted them with the results of the research conducted by our recruiters.
As a rule, the total cost per developer is considerably higher than the actual salary a developer gets. We wrote this article for business owners and decision-makers like you so that you know how much you’ll spend on a developer each month.
Please bear in mind that the average developer salaries indicated in the article are of advisory character. The average salaries fluctuate due to the level of expertise and set of tech skills of a developer.
Average JavaScript Software Developer Salary in Ukraine
According to PayScale and SalaryExpert, the average monthly salary of a full-stack JavaScript developer in Ukraine is $4K a month. JavaScript developers are in the highest demand on the outsourcing market. Ukraine has about 8K JavaScript developers.
| JavaScript | Salaries at dou.ua | Salaries by Recruiters |
|---|---|---|
| Junior | $1400-$2000 | $2700-$3500 |
| Middle | $2000-$2700 | $4700-$5300 |
| Senior | $2300-$3300 | $4800-$6500 |
A senior full-stack JavaScript developer’s salary in Ukraine is $67K a year. Bear in mind that salaries of software engineers in Ukraine also vary from city to city.
The annual salary of a middle JavaScript developer is $48K. The average monthly salary of a middle JavaScript developer in Ukraine is around $4K.
A junior JavaScript software engineer earns about $37K a year. The average monthly salary of a JavaScript developer in Ukraine is $3K.
Our research showed that salaries of front-end developers are considerably higher in the US and the UK than in Ukraine.
According to our LinkedIn-based research, Ukraine has about 3K senior JavaScript developers, 3K middle JavaScript engineers, and more than 2K junior JavaScript specialists.
Average Python Software Developer Salary in Ukraine
PayScale and Glassdoor indicate that the average Python software developer salary in Ukraine can reach $3K a month and more. An average Ukrainian middle-level Python developer gets around $54K a year. For an entry-level engineer, the salary can start as low as $1K a month.
| Python | Salaries by dou.ua | Salaries by Recruiters |
|---|---|---|
| Junior | $600-$1000 | $2600-$3800 |
| Middle | $1300-$2100 | $3500-$4600 |
| Senior | $4800-5500 | $6500 |
The salary of a senior Python developer in Ukraine is $6.5K a month and can reach $78K a year. A team lead earns around $76K a year, and the annual salary of a Python architect reaches $78K.
A middle-level Python developer earns around $5K a month, which results in an annual salary of approximately $60K a year.
An average junior Python engineer’s salary in Ukraine can vary around $3K a month. The average salary can reach nearly $36K a year.
Python is second only to JavaScript in demand within the Ukrainian tech industry. The local Python community counts more than 2K Python software developers in the main tech hubs of Ukraine — Kyiv, Dnipro, Kharkiv, and Lviv.
Average DevOps Software Developer Salary in Ukraine
DevOps engineers are in high demand all over the world. According to Accelerance and PayScale, an average salary for a DevOps engineer with 3+ years of experience is $6K a month. The average annual DevOps engineer salary in Ukraine ranges between $72K and $84K a year.
Why Outsource to Ukraine?
Get data on the state of the Ukrainian IT market and discover why Ukraine is one of the top destinations for outsourcing software development in 2020.
Cross-Platform Mobile Application Developer Salaries in Ukraine
According to PayScale, the average salary for a mobile developer in Ukraine with expertise in Flutter and React Native is between $2.5K and $4K a month. Flutter is a new technology that has recently become a must-know for mobile developers all around the world.
Average Java Software Developer Salary in Ukraine
Java is an old-school yet still highly demanded language with a large developer community in Ukraine. According to PayScale, an average salary for a Java developer with more than five years of experience is $4K a month which amounts to $54K a year.
| Java | Salaries by dou.ua | Salaries by Recruiters |
|---|---|---|
| Junior | $600-$1100 | $2700-$3500 |
| Middle | $1400-$2100 | $3500-$4600 |
| Senior | $2800-$4000 | $4800-$6500 |
A senior Java software engineer earns a salary of about $5.5K a month, which adds up to about $67K at the end of the year.
The salary of a middle Java developer in Ukraine is $4K a month. The average annual salary of a Java developer hovers around $48K.
Ukraine takes a leading position in the number of Java developers globally with around 5K senior, 2K middle, and 2K junior Java programmers.
Average PHP Software Developer Salary in Ukraine
A senior PHP developer in Ukraine with more than 4 years of experience can expect an annual salary of $58K. Tech and team leads working with PHP earn $5.5K a month. A PHP architect earns around $6K a month, which amounts to $72K a year.
| PHP | Salaries by dou.ua | Salaries by Recruiters |
|---|---|---|
| Junior | $1000-$1800 | $2700-$3800 |
| Middle | $1600-$2300 | $3800-$4700 |
| Senior | $2200-$3000 | $4700-$6000 |
The salary of a middle PHP software developer in Ukraine ranges between $3K and $4K a month, resulting in an annual salary that ranges between $36K and $48K.
Junior PHP developers in Ukraine earn up to $2K a month. The total annual salary of an entry-level PHP software developer reaches up to $39K.
The staggering number of 9K PHP software developers in Ukraine makes the country the world’s leader in the category. About 5K senior, 3K middle, and 1K junior PHP software developers live here.
Average .NET Software Developer Salary in Ukraine
The average salary of a senior .NET developer with over 4 years of experience in Ukraine, according to PayScale, is above $5.5K a month. A developer with deep knowledge of .NET tools and more than 5 years of work experience gets a $68K annual salary on average.
| .NET | Salaries by dou.ua | Salaries by Recruiters |
|---|---|---|
| Junior | $1100$-2000 | $1000-$2100 |
| Middle | $2100-$2500 | $2100-$3800 |
| Senior | $2600-$2800 | $5000-$6400 |
A middle .NET developer makes more than $3K a month, which results in $36K per year.
In Ukraine, an entry-level .NET software developer earns around $2K a month, which adds up to a salary of $24K per year.
What Influences Developer Salaries in Ukraine?
The structure of a developer’s salary varies a great deal depending on the type of company, taxes, and the developer’s expertise and level of responsibility.
How Business Models Influence Software Developer Salary?
There are two main business models software development outsourcing vendors use in Ukraine — IT outsourcing and IT outstaffing.
Software Developer Salary in Ukraine Depending on Business Model
What Is the IT Outsourcing Model?
Within the IT outsourcing model, the client outsources project development entirely to the outsourcing company.
The vendor gathers the requirements and forms a team responsible for product delivery. Chances are that the team includes junior developers as building a team is the vendor's responsibility.
How Does the IT Outsourcing Model Influence a Developer’s Salary?
Within the IT outsourcing model, a vendor gathers an in-house team of developers and other required tech talents to the client’s project.
The hourly rate the vendor charges the client includes hidden costs that are not associated with the developer's salary.
These costs cover salaries of project managers, business analysts, other non-billable employees, developers on the bench, and administrative expenses.
What Is the IT Outstaffing Model?
The IT outstaffing model, also known as staff augmentation, has a different cost structure and is generally more transparent.
Within this model, the vendor finds and hires software developers for the existing team of the client or builds it from scratch. Instead of delegating full responsibility for product delivery to the vendor, the client manages their remote software developers directly.
IT outstaffing model is more popular among the clients who want to hire rare and experienced developers they can’t find locally. Consequently, if you’re looking for a junior level developer, consider working with an IT outsourcing model.
How Does the IT Outsourcing Model Influence a Developer’s Salary?
Within the IT outstaffing model, the vendor hires new developers according to the requirements of the client. So, the software engineers work directly for the client.
Each developer gets a larger share of salary because the outstaffing company doesn’t need to cover the salaries of non-billable staff.
What Aspects Influence the Average Developer Salary in Ukraine?
Years of Experience
The Ukrainian IT market has reached a high maturity level after a period of rapid growth in 2013. Just like in the top tech countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom, Ukraine’s tech market is currently experiencing the devaluation of seniority levels.
A junior developer is an entry level software engineer with one to two years of experience. A middle software developer is a specialist with two to four years of experience. And to be considered a senior software engineer in Ukraine, the developer would be expected to have more than three years of experience behind his back.
Language Popularity
Salary-wise, top-tier languages such as Python and JavaScript are the most rewarding on the Ukrainian tech market. Such languages as PHP and Java are in demand as well, though they seem to be gradually dropping in popularity, which is in turn resulting in a slight salary decline.
Level of Responsibility
A developer’s salary is also defined by the responsibility they carry within the project. The hierarchy goes as follows: junior, middle, senior, team or technical lead, and architect. The higher the rank, the larger the salary.
How Many Software Developers Are There in Ukraine?
By the end of 2020, the Ukrainian tech talent pool is predicted to have reached the mark of 200K software developers. Rapid growth makes Ukraine the largest IT country in Eastern Europe second only to Poland.
At the moment, there are 185K software developers in Ukraine and more than 4K IT companies that provide software development services.
Research on the number of software developers in the world shows the following conclusions:
- Despite the great difference in population, about 9K PHP developers reside in Ukraine and only 7K PHP engineers live in the US.
- Ukraine has more Python developers than the UK — 3K vs. 2K.
- About 8K JavaScript developers work in Ukraine, meanwhile the UK tech market houses only 5K JavaScript engineers.
- There are more than 1K Ruby on Rails developers in Ukraine and 7 hundred Ruby on Rails engineers in the UK.
On LinkedIn only, there’re about 9K software developer profiles specializing in PHP, 8K JavaScript, and 8K Java developers. About 3K specialists use Python and 1K specialize in Ruby on Rails.
Main IT Hubs in Ukraine — Kyiv, Dnipro, Kharkiv, and Lviv
Kyiv
About 1K software development and product companies are based in Kyiv, the largest IT hub in Ukraine — about 40% of software developers in Ukraine live here.
With the largest number of tech businesses and slightly higher cost of living, the capital is an attractive spot for developers from all Ukrainian cities.
Dnipro
Dnipro is the eastern IT hub with 16K software developers. According to IT Dnipro Community, the region has 72% of individual entrepreneurs in the tech industry, with 24% of them being full-time employees.
Dnipro has 378 software development companies, 97% of which are small companies with up to 200 developers. Every third developer in Dnipro works in a big company.
Kharkiv
Kharkiv is home to 15% of Ukrainian developers with 500 tech service and product = companies. According to Kharkiv IT Cluster, there are about 31K software developers on the local market.
The tech industry is rapidly growing in Kharkiv — it grew by 24% in 2019 alone. A year before, the city’s IT industry was evaluated at $962M.
Lviv
The western-most tech hub of Ukraine, Lviv, showed a 25% growth in 2019. At the beginning of 2020, there were 24K tech engineers in the city. The tech industry created more than 63K new jobs in related industries.
Universities and tech companies alike invest in further education of tech specialists of all levels. About 13K students in Lviv are currently receiving education in universities with tech programs.
Hire Software Developers in Ukraine and Optimize Costs
Daxx is an outstaffing company with 20 years of experience. Our team meticulously matches businesses with talented software developers in Ukraine.
Hire top talent in the biggest Ukrainian IT hubs — Kyiv, Dnipro, Kharkiv, and Lviv.
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With us, you can hire one developer or build an entire dedicated team. Leave your email in our contact form to get a free consultation with our hiring specialists.
Kateryna Kachkovska
Content Marketing Manager
Kateryna is a Content Marketing Manager at Daxx driven to help business owners make data-based decisions. Feel free to contact her with offers on content promotion and collaboration.
