Svetlana ShevchukAccording to Hired’s research, software engineers of all kinds have kept, and in some cases, increased their hiring demand during and after the pandemic. Likewise, if your company needs to hire a Python developer, it is only one of the numerous businesses looking for a great engineer. Unfortunately, due to this hiring demand, finding a great Python programmer can be challenging.
For this reason, we have created a detailed guide to exploring all the parameters to consider before hiring a senior Python developer. We will start by analyzing how Python’s popularity affects the hiring process, making it difficult for companies to find the ideal candidate.
Then, we will examine the average senior Python engineer’s salary and explore some smart ways to combine excellent know-how with a reasonable wage. By the end of this article, you will have everything you need to know before expanding your software development team with a Python specialist.
Table of Contents
How does Python’s popularity affect the developer hiring process?
According to the HackerRank 2023 report, Python is the second fastest-growing programming language, with a growth of 19%. Additionally, Python is also the second (after JavaScript) most sought-after machine learning skill globally.
What that means is that Python is a very popular programming language among developers and large, well-known companies that use it for their software, including Google, Netflix, Facebook, and Spotify. Such a tendency can help you find the best developers, as there are many experienced engineers in the market now with advanced and practical knowledge of this programming language.
Source: HackerRank Report, 2023
Python is ubiquitous and one of the universal languages used by large companies. For this reason, the demand is enormous. Thus, finding and hiring an experienced Python developer can be challenging.
Nevertheless, there are some smart hiring solutions in which your business can find affordable, top-tier engineers. However, before we explore those solutions, let’s dive deeper into a Python developer’s average salary and how this number varies in different countries worldwide.
What are the average salaries of Python developers worldwide?
As mentioned above, finding the right Python engineer for your upcoming project requires effort. However, before you start looking for the best developer, you should explore the income disparities in different parts of the world. Python developer salaries greatly vary based on region. So let’s have a look at what you can expect to pay for developers from various countries.
We took the data for this section from Glassdoor open sources. It’s based on anonymous salary reports of Python developers. A word of note, these figures are not regional averages for the whole market per se but only averages of those developers who submitted data for inclusion in the Glassdoor report. Regardless, the data helps to understand the overall trend.
North and South America
It goes without saying that developers based in the U.S. have the highest salaries worldwide. According to Glassdoor, the average salary for a Python developer in the U.S. is $120K per year.
However, most South American countries have a much lower cost of living, so developers earn less. For instance, although Mexico is very well known and respected for its experienced web applications engineers, the average Python developer’s salary is only around $62K per year.
| Country | Junior Developer, $ | Middle Developer, $ | Senior Developer, $ |
| Mexico | $44,000 | $62,000 | $91,000 |
| Brazil | $33,000 | $51,000 | $82,000 |
| Costa Rica | $38,000 | $56,000 | $82,000 |
| Uruguay | $34,000 | $52,000 | $76,000 |
| Colombia | $43,000 | $68,000 | $75,000 |
Source: Glassdoor, Indeed, PayScale
Europe
The same parameter (cost of living) also influences the average salaries in European countries. This is why most Western European countries like Germany have higher wages than Eastern European countries like Ukraine or Bulgaria.
In Germany, a Python developer makes around $72K per year. Likewise, Python developers in the UK have salaries of $70K. On the flip side, a Bulgarian engineer has an average wage of $31K per year, and a Ukrainian Python developer earns around $33K.
| Country | Junior Developer, $ | Middle Developer, $ | Senior Developer, $ |
| The UK | $45,000 | $70,000 | $82,000 |
| Germany | $57,000 | $72,000 | $93,000 |
| Czech Republic | $23,000 | $48,000 | $89,000 |
| Poland | $26,000 | $53,000 | $85,000 |
| Ukraine | $21,000 | $33,000 | $66,000 |
| Hungary | $22,000 | $51,000 | $72,000 |
Source: Glassdoor, Indeed, PayScale
Africa and Asia
Countries like India and South Africa also tend to have much lower salaries than countries like the U.S. or Germany. Python developers in India make around $20K per year. Likewise, an experienced engineer based in Johannesburg, South Africa, can earn around $52K.
| Country | Junior Developer, $ | Middle Developer, $ | Senior Developer, $ |
| India | $8,000 | $20,000 | $31,000 |
| China | $31,000 | $51,000 | $69,000 |
| Philippines | $17,000 | $26,000 | $53,000 |
| South Africa | $29,000 | $52,000 | $73,000 |
| Egypt | $10,000 | $18,000 | $31,000 |
| Kenya | $14,000 | $25,000 | $42,000 |
Source: Glassdoor, Indeed, PayScale
Remote Python developer rates on the YouTeam platform
YouTeam is a platform for rapid tech staff augmentation. Our talent pool includes developers from Eastern Europe and Latin America who are hired by regional dev shops. If you’re looking to expand your development team with a dedicated offshore contractor engineer, our data can give you an impression of how much it would cost.
| Minimal Hourly Rate | Maximal Hourly Rate | Average Hourly Rate | |
| Junior Python Developer | $15 | $60 | $37 |
| Middle Python Developer | $45 | $90 | $45 |
| Senior Python Developer | $50 | $250 | $57 |
Source: YouTeam
Taking these hourly rates into account, you can easily find the approximate costs of your development project. For example, a yearly salary of a junior Python developer in offshore countries is about $30K-$40K, and for a senior Python developer, you should be ready to pay more than $80K per year.
How can salary differences prove beneficial for your company?
These vast differences are the main reason why startups and large U.S. companies choose to invest in outsourced front-end and back-end developers from Latin American or Eastern European countries. Thus, exploring the average salaries in different countries is smart if you’re looking to cut expenses by hiring a Python developer from a region commanding lower salaries.
Therefore, let’s dive deeper into your company’s different options to ensure you hire an affordable top-tier professional.
What are the different ways of hiring Python specialists for your web development team?
According to recent Gallup research, the number of remote workers globally has quadrupled, meaning 8 of 10 people now work remotely, and this number is expected to grow to 81% by 2024. Due to this rapid growth, every company has the flexibility to hire Python developers based on geographic criteria. Additionally, you can also hire an engineer by choosing the most suitable type of hiring. Let’s have a look at those two parameters separately.
Hiring for Python development: Options based on geography
When it comes to hiring a Python specialist, you have three different options based on geography. You can hire an engineer from your local talent pool, a nearshore developer, or an offshore developer.
If you want to hire a local engineer to grow your development team, there are specific places to do so. First of all, you can check online job boards such as Wellfound or Glassdoor.com. Many companies also choose to hire developers by hosting or attending local tech events (hackathons or tech conferences).
Another satisfactory solution is to hire local talent away from competing companies. That’s not easy because many companies try to protect their top talent. In this case, you can seek the help of headhunting companies or assign a dedicated person on your current team to do some investigating.
Finally, you could always look at the local market and utilize HR services.
On the other hand, you could also hire nearshore or offshore developers. The hiring process in those two cases is similar. You should always hire individuals or agencies with good ratings. There are numerous B2B platforms like Clutch and G2 that compile ratings for development companies for you to check. This is a smart way to ensure that you hire nearshore or offshore professionals. When it comes to nearshore talent, some companies also choose to hire engineers through regional events, like tech conferences and hackathons.
Now that we have explored the three different choices you have based on region and proximity, let’s also dive deeper into the different hiring types.
Hiring for Python development: Options based on the hiring type
When hiring a Python developer for your firm, you have four different choices based on the type of hiring: in-house development, staff augmentation, freelancers, and outsourcing. Although some of those hiring sources may prove beneficial, they all have their pros and cons.
In-house developers
In-house developers are the traditional type of hiring process. By hiring an in-house Python engineer, you offer a monthly salary and pay all the financial and non-financial worker benefits. Likewise, your new developer works in your company’s office. Therefore, if you need an in-house developer, you can check all hiring sources listed above in the “Local talent” section.
What’s important to remember is that the money that you’re going to spend on in-house talent is not limited to their salary. You also have to account for financial and non-financial benefits, taxes, and applicable office expenses.
Therefore many companies prefer to hire full-stack developers, hoping that a specialist who is experienced in both—client- and server-side—can do practically everything from creating an e-commerce website on WordPress to mobile applications so that by hiring one employee, you will cover all your needs. This is far away from reality because the tech stack, even for full-stack developers, is limited to specific technologies. Finding such specialists is difficult, and their salaries will be the highest on the market.
At the same time, by hiring a Python developer with some major skills and giving them time to learn new frameworks and technologies that your project requires, you might get an engineer for half of the market price.
Staff augmentation
Staff augmentation is the smartest way to scale your development team with full-time dedicated Python developers — temporarily. With team augmentation, you can choose and hire vetted specialists who currently work for dev agencies for as long as you need. Additionally, by trusting online platforms like YouTeam, a single access point to hundreds of such agencies, you can easily and quickly (the first available candidates are usually suggested within 48 hours) hire a top-tier Python engineer from an outsourcing company.
In this case, taxes and other expenses related to employee satisfaction are covered by a vendor. For this reason, staff augmentation is a better, less expensive, and safer choice than in-house hiring for those of you who need to hire a full-time Python developer for upcoming projects with limited planning horizons or dealing with a tech debt.
Browse 500+ Python Engineers Available for Hire
Freelancers
Freelancers are another alternative to in-house developers. If your company chooses to hire a Python developer on Upwork, Toptal, or Freelancer, you only pay for the contracted project and platform commissions—but no additional fringe benefits, such as insurance or other perks.
Although hiring a freelancer is the most affordable choice, it comes with a more significant risk. Unfortunately, when working with a freelancer, you could face problems like delays or project cancellations.
Outsourcing
Last but not least, you can hire an outsourced development team. Hiring via outsourcing services is pretty simple. All your company has to do is hire an outsourcing company that will assign your tasks to a dev team. Then, an outsourced development team will work on your task remotely until it’s done. As with staff augmentation, this is both a reliable and more affordable solution than in-house hiring.
Comparing Python developers: the US vs. Europe vs. Asia
We know that the US and Western European countries, like Germany and the UK, have higher Python developer salaries than Ukraine and India. However, does that mean that the Ukrainian developers don’t have the same advanced skillset? Not at all.
According to HackerRank’s average scoreboard, Ukraine has top-tier software engineers. For example, Ukraine’s developers ranked at #11 with an impressive score (88.7%) across all tech challenges. In the same table, US developers ranked at #28 (78%), and coders from India at #31 (76%).
In a few words, those statistics indicate that countries like Ukraine have an extraordinarily qualified but also affordable IT workforce. Let’s also look at different parameters, such as time convenience and English proficiency, by comparing three countries: the US, Ukraine, and India.
| The US | Ukraine | India | |
| Time Convenience | Perfect for the US and Europe. | Perfect for Western European countries and the US.
Big time differences with Australia. |
A big time difference between European countries and the US. Suitable for Australia. |
| English Proficiency | Native | Intermediate to High level of English | Basic to Intermediate level of English |
| Skills | Ranked in 28th place | Ranked in 11th place | Ranked in 31st place |
What Python programmer skills are companies looking for?
Python is a general-purpose language used in everything from machine learning to building websites and software that controls self-driving cars. Therefore, the Python engineer’s skillset depends on the project requirements. Their expertise may include the following:
- Knowledge of data types and data structures;
- Experience in Python-based web frameworks like Flask and Django;
- Understanding the multi-process architecture;
- Knowledge of machine learning algorithms;
- A good grasp of SQL, data visualization, and data analysis;
- Experience with version control systems like GitHub and GitLab;
- A basic understanding of front-end technologies such as HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript will be an advantage in ensuring proper coordination with the front-end development team.
Selecting the ideal candidate: A step-by-step guide for hiring a Python developer
Whether you’re building a new software or seeking to expand your development team, this section will walk you through each step of the hiring process to choose the right Python programmer for your project.
1) Identifying core skills and expertise essential for the project
A company should define what expertise is crucial for the project. Several years of practical work experience and a portfolio of finished projects can show a developer has been in the industry long enough to be familiar with the language.
2) Writing a project description and requirements
In addition to a desired set of skills, project requirements might include a degree in computer science, certifications, and personality traits. Hiring managers should also define performance-based requirements, as the project goal statement sets clear expectations for the role.
3) Testing candidates’ technical skills
Companies can choose a third-party code testing platform, such as HackerRank, Hatchways, or Woven, or customize a skill assessment themselves. Alternatively, they can turn to hiring platforms with pre-vetted Python software engineers.
4) Interviewing top candidates
Companies should compile a list of interview questions based on project requirements. Technical questions may cover specific Python features or troubleshooting common issues, while behavioral questions provide insight into the candidate’s soft skills, problem-solving abilities, and work ethic.
5) Hiring and onboarding
The job offer has been sent, and you are looking forward to working with a new developer. However, new hires may require as long as one month to become fully engaged because they need to get to know the team and learn the product. Therefore, companies should allocate time for Python developer onboarding, choosing a dedicated mentor, and getting regular feedback from the newcomer and the development team.
Which are the most important questions to ask when interviewing a Python developer?
After choosing the Python developer you consider an excellent match for your company, you should always emphasize crafting the best interview questions. Although numerous questions will help you identify the best software developer for your Python project, there are specific question categories from which you should always ask:
- Hard skills: Verifying a Python developer’s technical skills is crucial. Thus, ask some questions about their years of experience, clients, and projects to verify they have the expertise you require. Asking both generic (i.e., about Python’s unique features, algorithm, etc.) and more technical questions (i.e., about web frameworks like Django or Flask) will help you do that.
- Soft skills: Apart from examining a candidate’s skill set, you should always ask questions about their cultural fit and background. In this way, you will be able to identify if they’re a good team player and, thus, a good match for your company.
- Experience: Having skills is as important as being able to use them in a way that brings needed results. Therefore, questions related to practical experience are a must. Ask about their personal approach and attitude in solving all kinds of work-related situations. For example, address topics, such as work with GitHub, morphology and syntax development, how they ensure the functionality in app development, and whether they use a proactive approach in the automation of their work. Anything that will help to see how this candidate is involved in work processes.
Why choose YouTeam to hire the best Python developers for your business?
YouTeam is the best way to ensure you hire a professional but also affordable Python developer. Thus, if you think of hiring an engineer through staff augmentation, our company will help you make the best choice and quickly find the best-suited specialist. Let’s dive deeper into the advantages of recruiting via YouTeam:
- You will easily find the best dev companies: Our platform works/partners with the top dev shops from Eastern Europe and Latin America. This means that you can reach the best available resources and find an ideal candidate for your upcoming Python projects ASAP.
- We cooperate with top-tier developers: Our developers are not freelancers. Still, you have the final decision about their skill sets and host as many interviews as needed.
- We don’t charge our clients until you select the developer you want to hire and sign a contract: Sourcing and interviewing Python developers is absolutely risk-free.
- Our previous clients speak on our behalf: Most clients who try our matching service trust our vetting process and decide to stay with us.
A video guide for hiring Python developers
Wrap up
To sum up, this article sheds some light on the different, innovative, and unique ways of hiring a Python developer. We analyzed the position’s average salaries worldwide and explored your company’s choices based on region and hiring type. We also had a look at the crucial interview questions you should ask before hiring a Python specialist. Ultimately, we concluded that the YouTeam platform is a cost-effective, safe solution for hiring a professional for web app development.
