
JavaScript Salaries, Rates, and Team Costs Review Comparison USA and Ukraine
In this study, we relied on deep knowledge and detailed monthly market analyzes in JavaScript technologies – ReactJS, VueJS, ReactNative, NodeJS, as well as delivery teams consisting of PM, BA, QA, DevOps specialists.
For each position in the team, we will provide a short definition, project role and minimum skill set.
USA developer cost structure

Employer payroll tax rates are 6.2% for Social Security and 1.45% for Medicare.
The average paid vacation is 10-18 days.
Insurance (8%) and Legally required benefits (7.6%) and HR, office expenses (5%)
The standard recruiting fee for agencies is between 15% and 20% of the first-year salary for a permanent job the recruiter is filling. Some agencies may charge as much as 25% for hard-to-fill roles.
Ukraine developer cost structure

Ukraine has privileged taxes for IT companies. So overall taxes are 6.5% and this tax is traditionally divided between employee and employer.
Ukrainian workers are guaranteed 18 days of paid vacation under the law.
Accounting, management, benefits, insurance, etc.
Recruitment Agencies typically charge 8-12% of the total compensation of the new hire.
JavaScript Lead Developer salary, costs and rates
The main tasks are to lay down the correct architecture of the project in accordance with the requirements of the development and scalability of the project, control and make decisions regarding the frameworks, libraries and technologies used. As the ice is responsible for the composition of the team, the distribution of tasks according to the skills of the team and coordination within the team.
Required skill set and experience
-
Was a part of a team in 2-3 projects.
-
Able to work independently on projects and provide technical and architectural solutions and can delegate tasks to senior, middle, and junior developers.
-
Level D3 of the competency matrix in key languages and frameworks – it means maximum theoretical knowledge.
-
At least 8 years working experience as a developer.
-
Practical experience in development team management.
-
Experience in building project architecture from scratch, able to communicate with customers.
-
English C1+
Lead developer Ukraine vs USA

USA
USA Taxes
Ukraine
Cost-saving
Salary minimum including taxes

Tax. $109,701
$102,000
$57,510
Salary maximum including taxes

Tax. $189,288
$176,000
$76,680
Salary average including taxes

Tax. $144,117
$134,000
$70,290
HR expenses (accounting, management, benefits, insurance etc)

$28,810
$7,029
Vacations

$9,112
$5,272
Recruitment fees

$26,800
$7,029
Average inhouse costs

$208,839
$89,620
Average inhouse rate

$109
$47
Average outsourcing costs

$292,375
$125,468
Average outsourcing rate per hour

$152
$65
Team Costs Review Comparison
USA and Ukraine
JavaScript Senior Developer salary, costs and rates
On a project, as a rule, a senior developer is responsible for creating the main components of the project in accordance with the laid down architecture, controlling their quality, compatibility and maximum performance in accordance with the assigned tasks. In addition, he takes an active part in the development of architecture and the distribution of tasks within the project.
Required skill set and experience
-
Was a part of a team in 2-3 projects.
-
Able to work independently on projects.
-
Able to provide technical solutions.
-
Can delegate tasks to middle and junior developers.
-
Level D3 of the competency matrix in key languages and frameworks.
-
At least 4 years working experience as a developer.
-
English B2+
Senior Developer Ukraine vs USA

USA
USA Taxes
Ukraine
Cost-saving
Salary minimum including taxes

Tax. $106,474
$99,000
$42,174
Salary maximum including taxes

Tax. $212,949
$198,000
$63,900
Salary average including taxes

Tax. $150,570
$140,000
$57,510
HR expenses (accounting, management, benefits, insurance etc)

$30,100
$5,751
Vacations

$9,520
$4,313
Recruitment fees

$28,000
$5,751
Average inhouse costs

$218,190
$73,325
Average inhouse rate

$114
$38
Average outsourcing costs

$305,466
$102,655
Average outsourcing rate per hour

$159
$50
JavaScript Middle Developer salary, costs and rates
The main tasks of these developers are the development of small project components and the development of existing components. Simply put, this is an independent work on tasks of average complexity in accordance with the laid down architecture. In fact, on every project there are about 50% of such tasks, where complex architectural solutions are not required.
Required skill set and experience
-
D3 matrix capability level in key languages and frameworks.
-
Working experience at least at 2 projects.
-
2 years working experience as a developer.
-
Complete the task independently.
-
Communication skills within the team.
-
Skills of resolving atypical situations.
Middle Developer Ukraine vs USA

USA
USA Taxes
Ukraine
Cost-saving
Salary minimum including taxes

Tax. $50,548
$47,000
$31,950
Salary maximum including taxes

Tax. $148,419
$138,000
$51,120
Salary average including taxes

Tax. $87,115
$81,000
$38,340
HR expenses (accounting, management, benefits, insurance etc)

$17,415
$3,834
Vacations

$5,508
$2,876
Recruitment fees

$16,200
$3,834
Average inhouse costs

$126,238
$48,884
Average inhouse rate

$66
$25
Average outsourcing costs

$176,734
$68,437
Average outsourcing rate per hour

$92
$40
JavaScript Junior Developer salary, costs and rates
The main tasks of these developers is to help develop parts of components or pattern blocks of a project. Junior programmers work under the strict supervision of senior engineers, in fact, they are assistants to developers on the project and help to perform more routine tasks, thereby saving the senior’s time and delay. Often in projects such tasks are from 20% to 40%.
Required skill set and experience
-
Well versed in technology, but has little or no commercial experience.
-
Level D2 of the competency matrix.
-
At least 1 year working experience as a developer.
Junior Developer Ukraine vs USA

USA
USA Taxes
Ukraine
Cost-saving
Salary minimum including taxes

Tax. $44,095
$41,000
$16,614
Salary maximum including taxes

Tax. $104,323
$97,000
$25,560
Salary average including taxes

Tax. $67,756
$63,000
$20,448
HR expenses (accounting, management, benefits, insurance etc)

$13,545
$2,045
Vacations

$4,284
$1,534
Recruitment fees

$12,600
$2,045
Average inhouse costs

$98,185
$26,071
Average inhouse rate

$51
$14
Average outsourcing costs

$137,460
$49,535
Average outsourcing rate per hour

$72
$25
PM/BA salary, costs and rates
In order to work effectively as a team and achieve goals, you need the role of a Business Analyst who works
with the Product Owner and describes the basic requirements of the project, user stories and exception
criteria for individual components and blocks, and working with the team to explain how a particular
component works. The role of Project Manager is more to coordinate the work within the team, sort resources,
and control the quality and speed of development. Typically, the project manager role is replaced by the
Scrum Master role in the Agile projects.
Depending on the type of project and the size of the team, these roles can be combined by one specialist, or
they can be divided among different specialists.
Required skill set and experience
-
2+ years IT PM / BA experience.
-
Experience in at least two projects.
-
Good knowledge of project management foundations: planning, scheduling, project communication, issue resolution, change management, and risk management (PM).
-
Ability to engage with the client in technology discussions.
-
Experience in the use of multiple structured Agile methodologies (PM).
-
Thorough understanding of the scope management and control (BA)
-
Good understanding of software architecture design and development principles
-
Advanced or higher English level, both spoken and written (C1+).
PM/BA Ukraine vs USA

USA
USA Taxes
Ukraine
Cost-saving
Salary minimum including taxes

Tax. $61,303
$57,000
$19,170
Salary maximum including taxes

Tax. $148,419
$138,000
$38,340
Salary average including taxes

Tax. $95,719
$31,950
$31,950
HR expenses (accounting, management, benefits, insurance etc)

$19,135
$3,195
Vacations

$6,052
$2,396
Recruitment fees

$17,800
$3,195
Average inhouse costs

$138,706
$40,736
Average inhouse rate

$72
$21
Average outsourcing costs

$194,189
$57,031
Average outsourcing rate per hour

$101
$35
Lead PM/BA salary, costs and rates
The tasks of the Lead PM / BA are to control the quality and efficiency of the development process, set up
the work process for a new project, plan scaling, composition of the delivery team, coordinate PM, BA, QA on
the project.
The main difference in skills between the lead and PM / BA is the skills of managing distributed teams, more
than 4 years of experience and practical skills in establishing delivery processes.
PM/BA Lead Ukraine vs USA

USA
USA Taxes
Ukraine
Cost-saving
Salary minimum including taxes

Tax. $75,285
$70,000
$31,950
Salary maximum including taxes

Tax. $177,457
$165,000
$51,120
Salary average including taxes

Tax. $115,078
$107,000
$42,174
HR expenses (accounting, management, benefits, insurance etc)

$23,005
$4,217
Vacations

$7,276
$3,163
Recruitment fees

$21,400
$4,217
Average inhouse costs

$166,759
$53,772
Average inhouse rate

$87
$28
Average outsourcing costs

$233,463
$86,035
Average outsourcing rate per hour

$122
$45
QA Manual salary, costs and rates
This position is required to save time for developers, PM / BA and Product Owner on a project, as well as to analyze all dependencies when creating new product features and to minimize the number of bugs in production.
Required skill set and experience
-
Participate in functional, regression testing.
-
Report bugs and errors to development teams.
-
Create test cases and test plans for manual web-based testing.
-
Review and analyze requirements to create test cases and scenarios.
-
Write clear and accurate user documentation, instructions, and release notes.
-
Maintain and update the test cases to reflect software revisions.
-
Actively participate in product development and investigate issues.
-
Understanding of software development life cycle.
-
Knowledge of testing methodologies and processes.
-
Experience in manual functional, regression, specification, usability testing.
-
Experience in HTML / CSS and knowledge of SQL.
-
Experience in API testing.
QA Manual Ukraine vs USA

USA
USA Taxes
Ukraine
Cost-saving
Salary minimum including taxes

Tax. $34,416
$16,614
$42,174
Salary maximum including taxes

Tax. $112,927
$105,000
$31,950
Salary average including taxes

Tax. $62,379
$58,000
$23,004
HR expenses (accounting, management, benefits, insurance etc)

$12,470
$2,300
Vacations

$3,944
$1,725
Recruitment fees

$11,600
$2,300
Average inhouse costs

$90,393
$29,330
Average inhouse rate

$47
$15
Average outsourcing costs

153,668$
49,861$
Average outsourcing rate per hour

80$
25$
QA Automation salary, costs and rates
This position is especially important in the later stages of product development. Automating the testing process significantly saves the team’s time for testing and deploying new versions of the product, and also significantly reduces the number of bugs in production and prevents significant disruptions in the finished product after the deployment of new versions.
Required skill set and experience
-
Strong JS/TypeScript programming skills (collections, conditional, cycles, modularity, interfaces, promises, etc.)
-
Strong test automation design skills (OOP, composition, Page Object, Singleton, Keyword-Driven testing, SOLID, etc.)
-
Strong skills in interaction with web systems (HTML, XML, cookies, web storage, cache, HTTP, REST)
-
Strong Cypress usage skills.
-
Ability to write advanced SQL queries (SELECT incl. JOIN, INSERT, UPDATE, inner queries)
-
Strong test design skills (exploratory testing, wide range of test design techniques)
-
Ability to create complete, accurate, and laconic reports (bug reports, status and progress reports, test run reports, etc.)
-
Ability to estimate iteration scope using complex techniques (T-Shirts, PERT, decomposition, etc.)
-
Experience in testing REST API and backend servers.
-
Familiarity with web development concepts (HTML, CSS, JS)
-
Experience with BASH scriptingL.
-
Experience testing and troubleshooting web applications (e.g. Chrome Dev Tools)
QA Automation Ukraine vs USA

USA
USA Taxes
Ukraine
Cost-saving
Salary minimum including taxes

Tax. $61,303
$57,000
$19,170
Salary maximum including taxes

Tax. $146,268
$136,000
$40,896
Salary average including taxes

Tax. $94,644
$88,000
$31,950
HR expenses (accounting, management, benefits, insurance etc)

$18,920
$3,195
Vacations

$5,984
$2,396
Recruitment fees

$17,600
$3,195
Average inhouse costs

$137,148
$40,736
Average inhouse rate

$71
$21
Average outsourcing costs

$192,007
$57,031
Average outsourcing rate per hour

$100
$35
UIX Designer salary, costs and rates
The main tasks of a UX designer are to work closely with a Business Analyst on a project and create user
interfaces for the future product.
When working on UX, designers analyze the basic needs of users and the relationship between the main modules
of the product to create the most convenient interface.
It is also important to understand the principles of front-end development and work according to the
capabilities of the selected technologies and the environment in which the main development of the front-end
team is carried out.
Required skill set and experience
-
At least 2 years of commercial experience as a UI/UX Designer./TypeScript programming skills (collections, conditional, cycles, modularity, interfaces, promises, etc.)
-
Good understanding of the iterative development approach.
-
Experience with user research and testing.
-
Good knowledge of mobile design patterns, iOS, and Android guidelines.
-
Experience with responsive web design.
-
Ability to translate wireframes into UI, provide variability of styles.
-
Extensive experience in prototyping and interaction design.
-
Extensive experience of work with Figma, using components and auto-layouts.
-
Understanding of atomic design.
-
At least an Upper-Intermediate English level.
UIX Designer Ukraine vs USA

USA
USA Taxes
Ukraine
Cost-saving
Salary minimum including taxes

Tax. $87,115
$81,000
$20,448
Salary maximum including taxes

Tax. $177,457
$165,000
$40,896
Salary average including taxes

Tax. $124,758
$116,000
$35,784
HR expenses (accounting, management, benefits, insurance etc)

$24,940
$3,578
Vacations

$7,888
$2,684
Recruitment fees

$23,200
$3,578
Average inhouse costs

$180,786
$45,625
Average inhouse rate

$94
$24
Average outsourcing costs

$253,100
$72,999
Average outsourcing rate per hour

$132
$35
DevOps salary, costs and rates
Among the main responsibilities of DevOps on a project are continuous integration and delivery (CI / CD), server deployment automation (IaC), monitoring, reporting, and working closely with backend engineers to develop the most effective solution that meets product requirements.
Required skill set and experience
-
Experience in Linux / UNIX administration must be practical, at least 2 years.
-
Experience with MSSQL, Postgres databases.
-
Experience with Docker and Kubernetes.
-
Deep understanding of ELK stack.
-
Knowledge of Bash / Shell.
-
Knowledge of Log + visualization: Graylog + Grafana.
-
Experience with high-load distributions of systems.
-
Experience with CI / CD processes (Gitlab)
DevOps Ukraine vs USA

USA
USA Taxes
Ukraine
Cost-saving
Salary minimum including taxes

Tax. $65,605
$61,000
$31,950
Salary maximum including taxes

Tax. $168,853
$157,000
$57,510
Salary average including taxes

Tax. $104,323
$97,000
$44,730
HR expenses (accounting, management, benefits, insurance etc)

$20,855
$4,473
Vacations

$6,596
$3,355
Recruitment fees

$19,400
$4,473
Average inhouse costs

$151,174
$57,031
Average inhouse rate

$79
$30
Average outsourcing costs

$211,644
$78,843
Average outsourcing rate per hour

$110
$45
Team Costs Review Comparison
USA and Ukraine
Frontend development Team Composition and cost
In Javascript, Frontend Teams can develop both web and mobile, using technologies such as React Native. In modern development, it is supposed to work closely with the backend teams that develop the API, transfer the necessary endpoints for the development of frontend components that are independent of the backend.
Typical team of 5 developers
- It is necessary to involve Lead Frontend Developer at the start for a high-quality team composition and a scalable architecture bookmark. The lead developer can be hired full-time at the start of the project and then part-time as a consultant after the main team is assembled.
- Further, as a rule, the team can be linked with a Senior developer, 3 Middle developers, 1 Junior, or 2 Middle, 2 Junior developers – depending on the complexity of the project.
- To coordinate such a team, you will need BA full time, as well as QA. PM can be part time, or one for the whole project – for back and front teams.
Frontend Team Ukraine vs USA

USA
USA Outsource
Ukraine
Cost-saving
Senior React/Vue developer

$25,456
$18,183
$8,000
Middle React/Vue developer

$14,728
$10,520
$6,400
Middle React/Vue developer

$14,728
$10,520
$6,400
Junior React/Vue developer

$11,455
$8,182
$4,000
UIX designer

$21,092
$15,066
$5,600
Business Analyst

$16,182
$11,559
$5,600
Manual QA

$12,806
$7,355
$4,000
Part time PM

$8,091
$5,779
$2,800
Lead as a service

$6,091
$6,091
$2,600
Full team

$130,628
$93,432
$45,400
Backend development Team Composition and cost
The main tasks of the backend team are creating a scalable backend architecture, working with databases,
developing the platform API and the necessary endpoints for developing the frontend. Moreover, if web and
mobile are developed using hybrid technologies such as React Native, very often one backend team is able to
work with several frontend teams.
The back-end team is assembled according to the same principle as the front-end team. Truthfully, except for
the skills of the chosen framework, specialists with skills in working and optimizing databases are often
needed. And also the attraction of DevOps for high-quality configuration and optimization of the server or
cloud solution. In small teams DevOps may be partially involved.
Backend Team Ukraine vs USA

USA
USA Outsource
Ukraine
Cost-saving
Senior NodeJS developer

$25,456
$18,183
$8,000
Middle NodeJS developer

$14,728
$10,520
$6,400
Middle NodeJS developer

$14,728
$10,520
$6,400
Junior NodeJS developer

$11,455
$8,182
$4,000
Business Analyst

$21,092
$11,559
$5,600
Manual QA

$16,182
$7,533
$5,600
Part time DevOps

$8,819
$5,299
$3,600
Part time PM

$8,091
$5,779
$2,800
Lead as a service

$6,091
$6,091
$2,600
Full team

$126,641
$84,666
$43,400
Full-Stack development Team Composition and cost
As a rule, in a full-stack team consisting of front-end and back-end developers, we will single out a PM in
a separate role, who is responsible for the interaction and development process of the entire team.
In addition, we have introduced such positions as CTO as a Service, Delivery Manager as a Service, which
allow projects to attract maximum expertise for development, while not spending expensive specialists on
full-time in the team for permanent work.
Full-Stack Team Ukraine vs USA

USA
USA Outsource
Ukraine
Cost-saving
Frontend team

$130,628
$93,432
$45,400
Backend team

$126,641
$84,666
$43,400
Full team

$257,269
$178,098
$88,800
Development environment and cost
In addition to the costs of paying for developers’ time, as a rule, you need to pay for a development environment and a treasure of services or a server, among which are required an environment for managing projects such as Jira, systems for development and version control such as Gitlab or GitHub, cloud providers such as AWS, Azure or Google Cloud, IDE software, code quality control systems, etc. But this is a topic for a separate article and research. (Which we will cover later)
Summary
In this article, we have provided statistics based on salary analysis resources – Glassdoor.com, Indeed.com, Dou.ua , as well as our experience in launching a large number of projects with dedicated medium and large teams and analysis of the work of our colleagues for small and medium-sized ones. and large IT companies that provide outsourcing services for development teams.
All data are relevant at the beginning of 2022, and we plan to update them every quarter, since now the development market is developing very quickly and changes can occur quite quickly.
In case of inaccuracy of certain data, please write to us, and we will immediately make the necessary corrections. Also, if you have comments or questions on any block, we will be happy to advise you.
Team Costs Review Comparison
USA and Ukraine