How to Evaluate Job Salary After a Coding Bootcamp

Key Takeaways

• Coding bootcamps can be an expensive but worthwhile investment in a rewarding career in the tech industry without needing a college degree.
• Before you enroll in coding bootcamp, it’s important to research the outcomes of past students in terms of job placement, salary, and career trajectory, and to evaluate whether coding bootcamps are worth the investment based on these factors.
• In this article, we share what you need to know about your coding bootcamp’s outcomes, how this relates to your future salary potential, and how to ensure you get the highest return on investment from your education.

If you’re planning to attend a coding bootcamp in the hopes of one day securing a high-paying job in the computer science industry, you want to make sure that your investment in your education will pay off in the end. Before even enrolling in a program, you may be wondering what bootcamp graduates typically earn once they’re in the workforce. After all, in a country with a substantial load of student debt following graduate and undergraduate study, it’s a responsible question to ask. The good news is, you don’t need a college degree to pursue this career path.

In this article, we’ll take a look at how to carefully evaluate any outcomes data and course reports provided by a coding bootcamp, analyze the job market for graduates who are just coming out of coding bootcamps, and offer tips for assessing your return on investment (ROI) for private student loans and financial aid.

Before we dive into specific salary numbers, though, let’s look at coding bootcamps in general, as well as the demand for tech jobs like web developers, software engineers, data scientists, and other computer science roles, should you choose this path in lieu of a college degree. This will give us a better understanding of the number of job postings filling online job boards and the interest in these careers.

What is a Coding Bootcamp?

A coding bootcamp is an accelerated, intensive program designed to equip students with the job-ready technical skills needed for today’s most in-demand tech careers. Unlike traditional computer science degrees, coding bootcamps focus on hands-on training in specific areas such as web development, cyber security, data science, and more, with the goal of helping their students build real-world projects and gain practical experience to enter the job market in just a few months as opposed to a few years. And with most bootcamps offering flexible formats—from online to in-person to hybrid, and from full-time to part-time and even self-paced—they’re designed to fit a diverse range of schedules, locations, and financial situation, all with the goal of breaking down barriers and helping their bootcamp alumni land jobs in the tech industry.

Job Outlook for a Future Coding Bootcamp Graduate

Despite recent slowdowns in tech hiring, the job outlook for roles like software developers is not bleak—in fact, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics still projects a 17% growth in the number of software development jobs through 2033, “much faster” than the national average of 4% for all occupations.¹ And with coding bootcamps offering online, in-person, and hybrid programs across the country, from New York to Los Angeles and from Austin to Atlanta, this fast-paced and ever-changing industry shows no signs of going away, merely shifting its focus.

However, navigating a career path in the 2025 tech field, where software developers make an average annual salary of more than $124,000, and emerging roles such as machine learning engineer can even earn an average of nearly $170,000 per year, often means making a sizable investment up front.^2,3 With employers increasingly valuing demonstrable skill over a degree, coding bootcamp grads can earn competitive starting salaries alongside college grads. Average salaries, median salaries, starting salaries, and highest salaries are important benchmarks to consider, as these will change as you move along from your first job, to your second job, to your third job, etc.So before you begin your coding career journey, you’ll need to evaluate some numbers like education costs, the time you need to dedicate to your education, and what types of jobs you may be setting yourself up to get once you finish your education.

Coding bootcamps are often much shorter and less expensive than earning a bachelor’s degree or other CS degree, but the curriculum and outcomes can differ—while bootcamps tend to focus on hands-on experience and practical skills, a computer science degree may offer more theoretical knowledge. Many successful developers are self taught, and a four-year degree is no longer the only path to a tech career. Depending on the coding bootcamp you choose, you may have access to their outcomes reporting. These reports can help you gauge your potential ROI once you’ve finished coursework and are ready for the real world, but you’ll want to look at them with a critical eye and validate them wherever possible.

Understanding Coding Bootcamp Outcomes Reporting 

The term “outcomes” refers to the numbers coding bootcamps use to determine the success of their program. Many coding bootcamps publish these outcomes in order to inform prospective students about what they can expect not only from their education, but also about their post-bootcamp trajectory.

The following are examples of the outcomes metrics collected by coding bootcamps and published in course reports:

• Bootcamp graduation rates
• Average salary and median salary after coding bootcamp for jobs like software engineer, web developer, or data scientist
• Percentage of graduates placed in full-time positions such as software engineering, data science, cyber security, or machine learning within six months of graduating

Despite the demand for developers, engineers, and other tech jobs, it’s not likely that you’ll start at a six-figure salary right after finishing your coding bootcamp. Starting salaries for coding bootcamp graduates can vary, but nevertheless they can often be competitive with those from other education paths, such as college grads with a bachelor’s degree in computer science. In order to choose a reputable bootcamp that invests in producing quality computer programming talent, here are a few salary and graduation outcomes questions to discuss with a coding bootcamp admissions advisor:

• Is the starting salary you list inclusive of all developers or isolated to the ones who graduated from your bootcamp? Remember, you’re most interested in this particular program’s outcomes, not the general state of the job market. Your goal is to glean how successful their previous bootcamp graduates have been following their part-time or full-time coursework.
• Does this tech bootcamp use median or average starting salary data? As these can offer different views of potential salary, it’s important to take into account which one is available. Average salary numbers capture the range across the whole group, which might be skewed by outliers, while median salaries provide a more middle-of-the-road snapshot.
• Are the projected salaries and course reports validated by a third-party entity like the Council on Integrity in Results Reporting (CIRR) or an auditor? You should always do your own due diligence, but knowing that a third party has double-checked the data is a major benefit. It’s also an indicator that the bootcamp is committed to transparency and to placing their graduates in solid careers after graduation.
• Is reporting on starting salary outcomes exclusive to relevant careers only? If you’re spending 16 to 28 weeks at a coding bootcamp, putting yourself on a path towards a career in software engineering, web development, data analytics, etc, you want to make sure you’re taking coursework that will prepare you for that career. Just as you don’t want to waste time learning programming languages like Javascript or Python only to find out you won’t need to use them for your desired career, you also don’t want to find that you learned the right skills, but can’t find a job that will enable you to use them. You want to make sure the coding bootcamp you choose includes outcomes for the specific career path you choose, not just any graduate who landed a job at all, regardless of whether it’s in the relevant field.
• Is the salary and job placement data listed only for full-time jobs? Depending on what you decide to study, you may be given projected salary data for full-time jobs that don’t match your skills or your schedule. Ask your coding bootcamp if they have data for part-time/hourly positions as well, so you can be realistic about your financial future. Likewise, if you only want to land a full-time position, make sure any job placement data is clear on how many hires were full-time, part-time, contract, etc.
• Does the bootcamp offer career services or have hiring partners? Some coding bootcamps also provide additional career support, potentially even including working with hiring partners or having a job guarantee to help place graduates in tech roles, which can improve your chances of a successful job search after graduation. However, as with outcomes data, you’ll do well to pay close attention to the details, such as how they define “job,” if there’s a minimum salary associated with the guarantee, or any other requirements they take into account to consider students eligible.

Understanding post-bootcamp salary numbers and graduation outcomes is one of your first steps in deciding whether a coding bootcamp education will be worth it for you and your future. You might not make your dream starting salary right away, but it’s important to calculate whether what you invest in your education will be paid back to you with your future job. And when considering ROI and financial planning, be sure to factor in not only what different coding bootcamps cost in tuition, but also other costs such as tools and materials, certification fees, and living expenses that can impact your overall return.

For students who are considering loans or other financing for their programming bootcamp, you’ll want to pay even closer attention to any interest you may owe on these loans once you’ve graduated. Some offer grace periods for coding bootcamp graduates that can last six months or a year, but once interest starts to become a factor, it can add up quickly. The best way to get ahead of these payments is to ensure your education will set you up for a job that will cover these expenses. Ultimately, evaluating whether bootcamps are worth it or if coding bootcamps are worth the investment depends on your career goals, financial situation, and the outcomes data provided by each program.

Three Tips to Estimate Your Salary After a Coding Bootcamp

Now that you know how to research and discuss coding bootcamp salary and outcomes data, there are three equally important tips to keep in mind as you start to vet reputable coding bootcamps.

1. Factor in geographical differences in salary and cost of living. An individual who works as a junior developer in New York may make a very different salary and face differing costs of living than one in Boston. Knowing that the salary after coding bootcamp and cost of living will differ based on location, be sure to ask the coding bootcamp admissions advisor if their job placement data is cumulative from markets across the nation or whether it covers the region you’re interested in.
2. Learn the average placement time from graduation to offer letter acceptance. You’ll be able to better calculate your future budget with knowledge of how long you should expect to be on a job search. You may be facing a few months without a salary, so be sure to factor this into your budget calculations.
3. Look for programs that value transparency. From a software developer salary to general coding career data, the key is finding coding bootcamp salary information that is transparent and inclusive. The bootcamps that share the most information with their students—for example, not just average and/or median salaries but also details about their sample size and how they calculated this data—are often the best coding bootcamps from an education and outcomes perspective. This type of transparency can help build trust between you and the institution you choose and often results in better outcomes for all.

Setting Yourself Up for Coding Career Success

Embarking on a tech career like a web developer or software engineer is both highly challenging and highly rewarding, and many coding bootcamps can help unlock in-demand career paths that used to be only available to students with computer science degrees. But now, there’s a vast array of programs that aim to provide a new generation of developers with the skills they need to succeed in the workforce.

If you’re opting to enroll in a coding bootcamp, choosing the right one for you is a crucial step toward achieving your tech career goals. With so many options available, it’s important to research and compare programs based on factors like cost, location, curriculum, job search assistance and job placement rates, reputation, and more. By educating yourself not only on the knowledge and skills you’ll need on the job, but also on the marketplace and the realistic average salary you can expect to make, you’ll be able to budget for your future while pursuing a fulfilling and rewarding career.

Sources

¹https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/software-developers.htm

²https://www.indeed.com/career/software-engineer/salaries

³https://www.indeed.com/career/machine-learning-engineer/salaries