# How Much $$ Do Excel / VBA Programmers Make??



## Pallyjo

Does anyone have a _real _answer?

Serious question.  I think I may be grossly underestimating my salary...

Any qualified ideas?  Actual _*NUMBERS*_??  It seems so taboo to talk about for some reason-- people become vague and cryptic everytime I ask-- as if no one really knows.  I can't get a straight answer!

Help!  Please!


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## ExcelChampion

I gave you a real answer.  What more do you want?  A real number?  Then take what you make as a consultant in a month's time, multiply it by 12 and add 15%.  This will give you a real number.

I don't know what more to tell you...

And I think your response to my original thoughtful response was very rude.

Anyway, you will also need to take into consideration:

1. Year's experience
2. Education
3. Market value
4. Location

Most people don't get hired into a company witht he title "Excel programmer".  It's usually a data analyst, or a financial analyst position where these skills come into play.  Do you have knowledge of these disciplines?
HTH!


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## Pallyjo

Hey Champion,

Relax, buddy.  I wasn't talking about you singularly.  I appreciate your response, but you didn't answer my question.  I'm asking: HOW MUCH DO VBA PROGRAMMERS MAKE?  I'm not asking how I should increase what I'm making now.  I'm not out in the world looking for work, trying to pitch myself-- I'm being _approached_.   Just so you know:  people do, in fact, get hired as Excel/VBA Programmers-- whether as consultants or on staff as analysts or other similar titles.  I am one currently.  So are all the other chaps in the room with me.  I would ask them, but it's a dangerous question in the midst of peers, believe me.

Thanks for your idea, but your formula doesn't really make any sense to me.  For example:  if I'm making $12/hr and I apply your formula, and the majority of people in the US doing the exact same job are making let's say-- around $100/hr, then I'm seriously underestimating my skill set, right?  This is why I'm writing.  

I appreciate your willingness to help, Champ, but I don't think you're the guy/gal to answer this question.  

Anyone else, please?  Generically speaking:  What are Excel / VBA Programmers making nowadays?


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## PaddyD

"Generically speaking: What are Excel / VBA Programmers making nowadays?"

Generically speaking, all sorts of amounts 

By the way, it is best to stick to a single thread for a single topic, so I've locked the original:

http://www.mrexcel.com/board2/viewtopic.php?t=253995


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## Joe4

Just as PaddyD and ExcelChampion have suggested, the amount really depends on a lot of factors.  How about how much do doctors's make, or teacher's?  It is different depending on all the factors like education, location, demand, experience, etc.  There is probably more of a market/demand for you in a larger city that has a lot of financial, high tech, or IT jobs, as compared to some small rural area.

I currently live in a small city.  I used to live in Washington, DC, pretty much doing the same job I am doing now.  However, I was making 25% more there in DC than I am here.  However, the cost of living is considerably lower here than it was in DC.

So unfortunately, I don't think you are going to get a satisfactory answer, because there is no one universal answer.  Other than asking peers, the best way to find out is to scope out similar jobs in your area, and see what they are offering to pay.


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## Norie

What type of VBA are you talking here?

Excel/Access/Word/Powerpoint/Visio?

What exactly are you doing with it?

I remember working alongside a guy (BA - business analyst, though I can think of other
answers for that acronym) who earned £500 a day.

He had a spreadsheet, some code and all day to drink coffee, because that was how
long it took to run the long, badly written VBA code he had created.

When he, mysteriously, left I took over his part of the project, imported the data into Access,
created a few queries and voila the same results in seconds.

No VBA neccessary.

PS My title at the time was Excel Administrator and I was on the princely sum of £7.50 ph.


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## ExcelChampion

Pallyjo,
I'm not your buddy but I am trying to help you...

I didn't mean to suggest that NO positions are available with Excel as the principle discipline, I was merely suggesting that you may have better luck using your skills in some sort of analyst position (not to mention you learn the processes that your clients use because you're doing them yourself).

Why don't you tell us what your education level is, what your year's of experience are, and where you reside...this way people can give you a more educated *guess* at what you're skills are worth.  If you want a range, I would say $40K ~ $$80k on the average.

However, I did see a posting for an Excel Programmer that was needed in Baghdad, Iraq a couple of years ago.  It paid $80K for a six month stint.  You had to know how to carry and use a firearm and were required to carry one at all times.  Police and or military training was a bonus.

If you want a specific answer to your question then you need to be less vague in asking your question.  It's all about the details...


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## Pallyjo

Yikes!  Guys!  Sheesh...
I appreciate the resopnses.  I really do.  But this is taking the question a bit to the extreme.  I guess that's what happens when you ask a bunch of programmers a question-- they look at it from every possible angle 

I guess I have the best possible answer I can receive here, so thank you.  Can't help wondering if I asked any of you the average cost of a gallon of milk in the US, if any of you could offer an answer!  "Indiana will be different from California... Depends on the current market... I once knew a guy who bought a gallon of milk for $40 up in a mountain village..."   I'm just teasing you guys, but this warrants teasing in my opinion.  I know we sit in small rooms and stare intently at computer screens all day, but loosen up a bit!  

Thanks sincerely for your help and thoughtfulness.

Hey Excel "Champion":  When you see my name on a blog, kindly go the other direction.


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## ExcelChampion

Have a good day.


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## Cbrine

> (BA - business analyst, though I can think of other
> answers for that acronym)



Hey, I'm a Business Analyst!!!

I think I'm going to start telling everyone your a girl.


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## Norie

Cbrine

I'm not saying all BAs are bad but this guy was a joke.

He honestly did what I said.

He would come in in the morning, start the code/macro and for the rest of the day
would wander around talking to people and drinking coffee.


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## Joe4

> I guess I have the best possible answer I can receive here, so thank you. Can't help wondering if I asked any of you the average cost of a gallon of milk in the US, if any of you could offer an answer! "Indiana will be different from California... Depends on the current market... I once knew a guy who bought a gallon of milk for $40 up in a mountain village..." I'm just teasing you guys, but this warrants teasing in my opinion. I know we sit in small rooms and stare intently at computer screens all day, but loosen up a bit!


I disagree, and I think my experience proves that it does vary greatly based on these conditions.  

You are trying to oversimplify something that does not have a single answer (kind of reminds me of the joke about the engineer who assumes a horse is a sphere to make the math easier).

Let's look at a real world example.  How much does a starting NFL quarterback make?  In 2005, Brett Favre made 10 million, while J.P. Losman made 1.4 million.  So if I asked you how much a starting NFL quarterback makes, what answer would you give?


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## SydneyGeek

As all the guys have already said, it depends. Big city, big company, right skill set, enough experience... all come into play. 

To give a very rough indication, when I started out I charged about $60 per hour. Now it's about double that, give or take. 
Bottom line, if you do the job and don't waste the client's time, they will pay. And if they like what you do you'll get referred on to other clients. 

Throttle those numbers back for a permanent position with superannuation, holidays and other on costs. 

Denis


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## Err

Sit back Childrens for I have a story of Woe and Misery to tell you. 

Yours truly used to have a job making $120,000 a year working for a major telcom carrier. I was happy in my job which really wasn't VB, but rather untangling cables and monitoring bugs written in C. Sometimes, I would write bug reports which would make programmers gasp. I liked my job -which is why it is a tale of woe and misery.

There were a bunch of executives that worked in the same company who would do executivy things -like buy a company with a product that we already made. They thought they were pretty smart -and they were because they kept parachutes made out of solid gold in their offices by the door. 

They also looked down on people like me because they found out that there are starving people in India and China -who they could get to do my job for much, much less money. This would in turn -free up more money for them to do Executivy things -and they like that.

This was back east (for those who don't know -back east refers to the new england area of the United States). The winter set in and I found myself without any cables to untangle or bugs to report. In fact, I found myself with a bunch of other people also out of work. I worked on creating a resume but all the Human Resource type people were too busy drinking coffee to read it. 

Time passed and my stomach started growling. What would I do for work? Used car type people offered me a job and I jumped at it -only to realize that used car type people really don't like me at all. 

My father told me to move to Arizona and that he could help me get a job. Since all the people in the cold, cold northeast seemed to rely on this "Nepotism" -I thought I'd give it a try. 

I've never programmed in VBA before in my life -in fact nobody at my work does either. However it was the only language available -so I thought I'd give it a try as well.

I am happy to report that this pays exactly 22.50 an hour which is much better than selling cars but not quite as good as working in Telcom.

-Err


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## Trances

We have a few VBA programmers here in Greater London 
They work on extracting data from legacy systems to generated automated reports. As well as integrate in to Databases and create standard format as well as looking at ways of creating efficacy for departments that use MS Office applications. The pays is between 19,000 pounds a year up to 46,000 ( I expect for the head developer) With almost no experience in VBA but much in writing manuals for accounting packages (2 years ) general Lotus Notes support I have one of the lower positions. 
Hope that’s a clear enough answer 
Technical Writing of course would pay better at least the jobs I have looked at and I am qualified for but I prefer my current role for now.


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## CSTUBBS

Its not necessarily how much you make, but how happy you are doing what you are doing. I too, have been busted from an (underpaid)plant managers position in furnitrure manufacturing(which our politicians sold out to China) to a underpaid supervisory position in lumber production. But the point is I'm 5 miles from where i've always lived, and I dont have to go to china and train unskilled labor how to do US jobs for which they get paid $2.00/day.
I hope this makes sense to someone out there.


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## b1n0ry

I don't think you understand. The US is a _huge_ country. If I were to become a data analyst for a small company in rural Ohio with little experience, I might make $45k USD per year. If I were to become a data analyst for a large legal firm in New York with 10+ years of experience and an MBA, I'd probably be pulling a quarter mil. The "average" in the US is a skewed number and completely irrelevant.

You might as well ask "How much does it cost to buy a house in the US?" In Houston, TX you get a 2,000 sq. ft. 4-BR 2.5 bath for $150k. In Beverly Hills, CA you'll pay $3 million for a 900 sq. ft. 1-BR condo.


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