PHP Developer Salary in Poland
Twenty years ago, PHP was the foundation of almost the entire internet. Although PHP is now more advanced than ever, its peak popularity has passed. However, it is still used by several percent of developers in Poland. Let's take a closer look at both the real earnings of PHP developers and the salaries currently being offered by employers.
We'll use data from Poland and all salaries are in Polish Zloty (PLN, 1 PLN is around 0,25 USD) per month.
PHP Developer Salaries
Based on data from the IT Community Survey 2024, we can analyze PHP developer salaries according to experience levels. On average, a junior has 1.4 years of experience, a mid/regular developer has 5.6 years, and a senior has 11.4 years. Below are the average net salaries ("take-home pay") for employment contracts (UoP) and net amounts on invoices for B2B.
Employment Contract – Average Salaries:
- Junior PHP Developer: 5,226 PLN net
- Mid/Regular PHP Developer: 7,622 PLN net
- Senior PHP Developer: 10,881 PLN net
B2B – Average Salaries:
- Mid/Regular PHP Developer: 14,794 PLN net on invoice
- Senior PHP Developer: 22,209 PLN net on invoice
For B2B contracts, taxes and ZUS contributions must be deducted from the above amounts, which reduces the net value. We had too few samples for juniors on B2B contracts since it's a less common arrangement at that level of experience.
Salary Medians from the Same Survey:
Employment Contract – Medians:
- Junior: 5,300 PLN
- Mid/Regular: 7,500 PLN
- Senior: 10,000 PLN
B2B – Medians:
- Mid/Regular: 15,000 PLN
- Senior: 21,000 PLN
Laravel or Symfony?
Our survey also asked about frameworks used at work. It turns out that PHP developers who use Symfony earn an average of 8,962 PLN net on an employment contract, while those using Laravel earn 7,930 PLN net. A similar trend was seen with B2B contracts.
Current Job Offers
We also track the IT job market in Poland and analyzed listings on major Polish job boards. We extracted average salary ranges for mid-level PHP developers, as there are more listings for this level, making the results more reliable.
Employment Contract Range: 8,200 to 11,500 PLN net
B2B Range: 11,300 to 16,500 PLN net on invoice
Currently offered ranges are not significantly higher than actual earnings, suggesting that the demand for PHP developers is stable and has been consistent for some time.
PHP Developer Salaries Compared to Others
Unfortunately, data from our survey, other pay reports, and offered ranges indicate that PHP developers are among the lower-paid in IT.
We understand this might be controversial or disappointing for some, but every time we check the data (regardless of the source), the result is the same—PHP consistently ranks lower in terms of salaries.
This is largely due to the bad reputation PHP gained during the rise of Web 2.0. Although the PHP ecosystem and programming practices have evolved, the label "PHP is bad" remains. However, this doesn’t mean PHP is finished; many web applications are still powered by this language.
We are not here to criticize PHP. From an employer's perspective, PHP can be the best technology in terms of cost-efficiency.
If you’re not giving up on PHP, we encourage you to check out current job listings: