Here's How Much Ruby Programmers Make (And Where to Find the Best Jobs and Freelance Gigs)

A List For 2025

With the growing impact of digitalization in different sectors, you’re probably thinking about learning a programming language and might be considering Ruby.

You've probably read about Ruby coding if you've done a thorough analysis or have any expertise with programming languages. Ruby is a common programming language that is utilized for a variety of tasks ranging from developing web apps to data analysis. It's also quite user-friendly in comparison to other computer languages, and for those prepared to put in the time and effort, it's fairly simple to learn.

Perhaps most importantly, Ruby developers are in great demand in the business, and knowing how to write in Ruby can turn you into a very flexible and helpful programmer. Here are some essentials to know before you start your journey as a Ruby programmer.

Ruby Gig Worker

How Much Do Ruby Developers Make?

A Ruby programmer gets paid similarly to a Python developer, but more than the rest of the developers. People with Ruby experience are in great demand in the IT tech sector, thus employers are willing to offer a higher salary.

When negotiating a wage as a Ruby programmer, you must take into account the company's offer, your income levels, your skills and experience, and the normal pay estimate.

We’ve used two prominent platforms as the source for salaries: Indeed and Glassdoor. Also, keep in mind that all figures mentioned are for the U.S. market and include base pay plus additional pay.

Entry-Level Ruby Developer Salaries

Based on the data on Glassdoor, Ruby programmers can earn between $60K to $164K a year, but the most likely range is $76K to $130K. An entry-level programmer with zero to one year of experience earns $83K on average across all industries. Of course, this could go down to as low as $51K or as high as $138K.

It’s a slightly different story with Indeed as the wage spectrum on the platform is from $60K to $80K. For instance, a recent Indeed gig for a full-time, entry-level ruby developer offers $60-75K per year. Another entry-level Ruby developer position also pays $45 - 55K a year for a full-time position.

Mid-Level Ruby Developer Salaries

As ruby programmer gains four to six of experience in the field, their average salary estimate on Glassdoor rises from $76K to $94K a year. Of course, if they have worked 7 to 9 years as a Ruby programmer, their salary can increase to $100K per year. Many intermediate programmers today even earn $132K per year and possibly can even achieve a $167K salary.

Indeed estimates are also in line with Glassdoor, suggesting that a mid-level Ruby programmer could earn anywhere from $88K to $120K a year. In fact, their recent estimate for a full-stack software developer gig was $112K per year.

Senior Ruby Developer Salaries

Based on Glassdoor figures, a senior Ruby developer with +10 years of experience in the field can earn as high as $190K per year while many already get about $150K a year. As they move up the ladder and add to their experience, they could even surpass the $300K mark.

For instance, a software engineering firm called Kabam pays anywhere from $180 - 367K to its Ruby software developer team, which is quite impressive. Similarly, Ruby developers at another company called Revel IT earn from $157K to $270K per year, which is considerably higher than entry-level or even intermediate positions.

Freelance vs Full-Time Ruby Developer Jobs

One of the main upsides to working as a Ruby programmer is that in many cases, all you need is a laptop, a set of apps, and a decent internet connection to work from the comfort of your home. Based on ZipRecruiter’s estimates, freelance Ruby programmer positions pay $54.81/hour on average, which is not a bad wage.

Besides the obvious flexibility, it’s sometimes easier to find jobs as a freelancer because most positions are project-based and the screening process is usually handled by a small team. Therefore, compared to a full-time position, it’ll be much easier to fall through the hoops and start working.

On the other hand, long-term salary jobs offer a level of security and stability that freelance positions severely lack. In addition, a full-time position usually comes with added benefits such as insurance, stocks, bonuses, and other advantages that you may only get in a long-time job.

Types of Programming Gigs Ruby Is Best For

Ruby is used in building web applications. Some of the features of this programming language include dynamic typing, duck typing, object orientation, garbage collection, method names, and singleton methods. The Ruby framework makes it flexible and secure, and it reduces the time of development.

Using Ruby For Web Scraping

Ruby is also very effective at web scraping and crawling. There is various software available for this function. While some libraries help crawl and download pages, Ruby programmers use others to parse HTML to specific areas of the page in order to facilitate data analysis.

Using Ruby For Web Development

One of the key applications for Ruby is web development. Due to the use of the Rails framework, the entire process was altered. Coders spent many hours typing lines of code to create web apps before Rails was launched in 2005.

Ruby makes it simple for programmers to create web applications. It takes advantage of conventions that specify how the Ruby program is structured. Programmers may configure the programs more quickly with this method. Additionally, code generators that need less writing of code are included.

Ruby For Server Management

Web servers may also be created with Ruby. Ruby is used to creating certain well-known web servers, including Unicorn. Such servers receive HTTPS requests, deliver them to backend web applications, manage the response, and then provide the application with the response. Ruby-based web development frameworks are compatible with the app servers.

Ruby also commands the front line in the data processing. Data analysis, cleanup, and filtering are perfect applications for this software package. Its built-in map, filter, and reduce features have been utilized to tackle data processing issues.

Ruby For Static Site Generation

When a user accesses the page, websites frequently utilize server-side programs to build HTML before providing it to the browser. After visiting the URL, no HTML files were discovered there. In order to create the pages for sites when necessary, a static generator applies the code.

When a visitor accesses the URL, a static HTML file will be shown since the pages have been deployed to the server. Simplicity, convenience, security, and ease of website setup are some benefits this provides. It is perfect for websites with seldom changing content.

Top Industries and Companies Hiring Ruby Developers

Ruby is a framework that is incredibly adaptable and flexible. It isn't restricted to a certain company or even a single web service. Banking firms, investment firms, startups, and businesses of all sizes are among the businesses that utilize Ruby.

In addition, Ruby works well with a wide range of websites and web applications, including social media sites, online stores, and video streaming services. Let's look at a few sectors and companies that use Ruby.

Ruby In Software Development

Undoubtedly, the most obvious field of application for Ruby is the software development sector. Ruby is fundamental for a large portion of the infrastructure used in interactive software development. Many small businesses focus on Ruby development, but the framework has also piqued the interest of large industry leaders, including Microsoft.

The industry giant incorporated Ruby into its Enterprise Office 365 and Microsoft 365 series, which was met with great praise from many Fortune 500 companies.

Ruby In FinTech

Scalability, consistency, and security are given top priority by fintech businesses. Thanks to its huge, community-driven library collection, and built-in safety features, Ruby meets all those needs. The growth of crowdfunding sites is one of the biggest testimonies to Ruby’s rising popularity.

Home to many successful entrepreneurs, Kickstarter, has allowed 170,000 projects to be funded by 17 million supporters. Its developers used Ruby as their tool to create a productive, dependable, and user-friendly website.

Ruby In E-commerce

E-commerce sites may benefit the most from Ruby, owing to a diverse set of Ruby tools addressing topics ranging from accountancy to security. Ruby has all of the tools required to build a successful e-commerce or online retail website. Ruby enables online marketplaces and significant store efforts across a wide range of industries.

Both the original US platform and several of Groupon's international locations were built fully on Ruby, and they both still heavily rely on it today. In early Groupon development, like in many other instances, Ruby played a very important role in enabling the firm to quickly introduce new features.

Ruby In Social Networking

Ruby offers vital benefits for the social media sector, including a strong potential for horizontal scaling and a unique mode supporting the quick and simple implementation of APIs. This makes it perfect for handling social networking sites with lots of active users and material.

Goodreads is a prime example of Ruby's simplicity as the company founder built the first version of the website himself using this tool. The core of the Goodreads tech stack, Ruby, continues to drive the company's rapid expansion.

Ruby In Marketing

Ruby is rapidly being used in the marketing industry by both small businesses and established corporations. Because of its effectiveness, abundance of practical libraries, and simplicity in integrating a broad range of databases, Ruby is a popular choice for creating cutting-edge applications and websites for marketing service providers.

By consistently looking for new, effective solutions, BBDO has grown to become the most successful and well-recognized ad firm network in the world. It used Ruby to create a beautiful and smooth website.

Ruby In the TV Industry

Ruby's stable code, rapid growth, and high level of efficiency made it possible for the streaming revolution to reshape the whole entertainment sector. Even online entertainment businesses that shifted away from depending only on Ruby after their early development surges continue to utilize the framework for a variety of purposes. By now, more established market participants have also expressed interest in utilizing Ruby by recruiting programmers.

Twitch has taken the top spot in the globe as a thriving sports entertainment provider. It hosts approximately 1 million viewers on average every day among about 45,000 active channels. Twitch tried to diversify its software stack in previous years, but in 2019, its website still mainly relies on Ruby.

Ruby In Hospitality

The web platforms that are changing hospitality and tourism are powered by ruby. Advanced digital solutions and horizontal scalability are used by tech-savvy web businesses to build vast, global databases that are essential to their success. International hotel chains have now begun using Ruby in their digital strategy.

Airbnb is a great example of Ruby’s impact on the hospitality business. With more than 150 million worldwide users and millions of postings, Airbnb dominates its industry within the sharing economy. Ruby's flexibility and ease of use allowed Airbnb to swiftly expand from a modest company into a market leader in the hospitality industry.

Ruby In Real Estate

More real estate firms are starting to recognize Ruby's benefits for their sector, particularly Ruby's ability to handle huge datasets. This is an exciting route for the growth of Ruby, particularly when it comes to creating a unique real estate CRM, given the proliferation of new tools and programming services for the sector.

Spacelist currently manages some of the biggest real estate databases in Canada. With thousands and thousands of different listings, The firm made sure that the web software would develop quickly and reliably by utilizing Ruby, which allowed it to enter the US market.

Best Countries for Ruby Developers to Work In

Here are some of the best countries for Ruby programmers to work:

Ruby In The United States

Ultimately, many countries are strong in the tech industry, but as everybody knows, the U.S. has been a tech powerhouse since some of the largest technology businesses, including Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and Twitter, are located in the United States.

That is why they require a large number of software developers and pay significantly more than others. As a result, they have the highest level of supply and demand for Ruby software developers.

Ruby In The United Kingdom

They have a great software market, and housing is moderately priced, although general taxes are high. All in all, you can afford to live in the U.K. as a happy Ruby programmer without worrying about your livelihood.

Ruby In Switzerland

Switzerland pays big money for software programmers. However, keep in mind that wage is usually directly proportionate to the cost of living. Everything is pricey, but the salaries are fair, and everything is incredibly well-organized.

Ruby In Germany

Germany, being Europe's biggest economy, requires a high number of professionals. According to reports, several German firms have English-speaking software developers. This is done for them to employ more international expertise.

Probably one of the finest in Europe for this, however, the local administration struggles to keep up with the influx of immigrants. You will have to learn German to get along here, but you can do it after you get there.

Bottom Line For Ruby Jobs And Gigs

So, there you have it. This is a full guide on how you can start your journey as a Ruby program developer. With the growing reach of digitalization in all industries and markets, software development skills will never fall short of demand in the future.

Of course, before you decide to work at a company or move to another country to pursue your passion, you need to consider all aspects of the situation.

We hope that this article has given you an accurate picture of the career you can have as a Ruby programmer. If you have any questions on your mind or need more data, just contact us and we’ll help you out.

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