Are SQL Server DBA salaries going up dramatically?

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Are SQL Server DBA salaries going up dramatically?

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Posted Monday, October 24, 2011 6:36 PM

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I want to ask an open question. Feel free to respond with as much info as you want to share.
Typically I update my resume on Dice.com every few months so that it stays current. I don't do this because I am on the market, I do it so that recruiters contact me so I can stay up to date on the current market salaries for our profession.
As a result of my resume being current I get quite a few emails and phone calls, both local and out of state, even though I specifically set my profile for local, fulltime and above $100,000 jobs. I am trying to weed out the lowball offers.

I live in the Seattle/Bellevue/Redmond area. Most of the SQL Server DBA or developer jobs around here, based on my experience, have traditionally been between $90,000 to $110,000. This is for DBAs with some experience obviously. In the past 30 days I have had 3 different companies start quoting $125,000. This is the first time I have heard this figure as a base salary number. It has happened twice in the past week from different companies. I thought it was a fluke the first time it happened in September. That was a company trying to relocate a DBA to Kansas, so I figured they needed to offer larger amounts to get someone to move, so I wrote that off as a desperate situation.

But then it has happened again two times in the past week with two different local companies.

Just a question out there in general. Have you noticed a serious uptick in quoted FTE salary numbers from recruiters lately?
Most seemed at $110,000 before, now $125,000 seems to be the new high water mark. I am sure some high COL areas are higher.
Seattle/Bellevue is above average COL, but not like NYC or Palo Alto.

Post #1195524

Posted Monday, October 24, 2011 8:16 PM

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Might be a local market boost. I haven't noticed anything significant in the markets I watch.

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Post #1195532

Posted Thursday, February 23, 2012 2:11 PM

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Ha, compared to those numbers I am getting ripped a new one at 53,400.

Post #1256940

Posted Thursday, March 29, 2012 8:41 AM

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I've actually noticed them being less... when I was actively looking for a job last October, I was constantly told that I was above the pay range for the jobs that I was applying for. They usually capped out at 90k. I'm currently making 118k but I live in DC area and that's a pretty typical salary for government contractors here.

Post #1275122

Posted Thursday, March 29, 2012 8:46 AM

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Steady Yeti (2/23/2012)

Ha, compared to those numbers I am getting ripped a new one at 53,400.

I'd have to ask where you are located, how much experience, what industry you are in, what size company you work for.

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Post #1275126

Posted Thursday, March 29, 2012 8:46 AM

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I find in my area that you look at 80K - 100K.

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Post #1275127

Posted Thursday, March 29, 2012 8:53 AM

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I think it really depends a lot on the company. Also, if you have been at the same company for too long, you might have more marketable skills than you realize - you may have been earning what you were worth 3 years ago, but now are in a much higher bracket. I gained a lot of DBA skills in the >3 years I was at one position, then took an offer at another local company and my salary jumped $20K instantly.

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Post #1275131

Posted Thursday, March 29, 2012 9:29 AM

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That was a company trying to relocate a DBA to Kansas, so I figured they needed to offer larger amounts to get someone to move, so I wrote that off as a desperate situation.

Are you willing to share what company that was? I live in Kansas and that kind of money is unheard of around here. The cost of living in the Midwest is a LOT lower than where you are.

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Post #1275162

Posted Thursday, March 29, 2012 10:06 AM

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It'll depend on the local market. I make about the national average for a DBA with my level of experience, but I live in an area with less than 80% of the national average cost-of-living. Effectively, I'm making a lot more than the national average, because of that. Seattle has a higher than average cost-of-living per Census Bu, so you have to take that into account. Best numbers I could easily find say that you need to make $90k/year in Seattle to have a $70k/year lifestyle, compared to national averages. Same ratio, applied to $120k/year, comes out to about a $97k/year lifestyle. Doesn't work exactly that way, but it's rule-of-thumb-accurate.

So $125k/year in Seattle puts you at the high end of medium of DBA salaries, compared to national averages of income/cost ratios, assuming c. 8-10 years of experience.

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Post #1275197

Posted Thursday, March 29, 2012 11:09 AM

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Sean Lange (3/29/2012)

That was a company trying to relocate a DBA to Kansas, so I figured they needed to offer larger amounts to get someone to move, so I wrote that off as a desperate situation.

Are you willing to share what company that was? I live in Kansas and that kind of money is unheard of around here. The cost of living in the Midwest is a LOT lower than where you are.

This was back in October of 2011 that I started this topic.
If I recall it was an insurance company in Lenexa KS. That is just from memory though.

Post #1275250

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