Survey: The median annual salary of Ethereum core developers is $140,000, which can double after "changing jobs".

On September 16, a new survey revealed that software developers working on the maintenance and improvement of the Ethereum blockchain earn a median salary of $140,000 per year. According to a survey by Protocol Guild, core Ethereum developers who have the opportunity to "jump ship" receive a median salary of $300,000, more than double their current salary, while their job is to improve the world's most important smart contract blockchain. Ethereum is maintained by a distributed group of software developers. Many work for the Ethereum Foundation, which held more than $970 million worth of crypto and other assets as of October last year. But there are also many people who are employed by other crypto companies, which hire Ethereum core developers more as a "goodwill support" move. It is estimated that there are currently 200 to 300 core Ethereum developers, of which 190 are Protocol Guild members and 111 participated in the survey. The survey results are less encouraging: with the exception of a median annual salary of $140,000, only 37% of respondents have received equity or token incentives from their employers. In other words, they don't get the wealth growth opportunities that many people who enter the tech industry expect. By comparison, entry-level employees at CEXs earn a base salary of $150,000 per year, plus $56,000 in stock and bonuses per year, according to Protocol Guild. It is important to point out that CEX is an American company, while many respondents to the Protocol Guild survey may be from countries with lower salary levels. In addition, Protocol Guild supplements developers' income by accepting donations of tokens from Ethereum-based projects. Since 2022, it claims to have distributed more than $33 million. However, 38% of respondents said they had received job offers in the past year – mostly from other blockchains, including layer 2 blockchains in the Ethereum ecosystem. As mentioned earlier, the median salary they received was quoted at $300,000.