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by toomanyrichies 370 days ago
What country were you searching in? I'm an American work-from-home Rails + React engineer (admittedly with 12 years of experience), and I'm in the 96th % income bracket for individuals of my age (mid-40s). And I just started this position a month or two ago, so it's not like I got this job during the time of ZIRP.

IMO it completely depends on the company you're working for. I've seen job ads targeting my skill level offering $200k/year, and others offering $130k or even less. There will always be companies out there either trying to lowball people, or who genuinely don't operate in a vertical which is profitable enough to pay top-band salaries.
2 comments
bravesoul2 370 days ago
Australia. Typ would be 50k converted to USD when I was looking a few years ago.
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throwanem 370 days ago
What's the delta on Rails + React vs Rails without?
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toomanyrichies 370 days ago
The delta in terms of salary? The median is roughly similar, maybe a slight edge for Rails + React depending on region or company. But the big difference is volume. There are way more Rails + React roles out there, and the Rails-only ones tend to be more variable in scope, stack, and compensation.

On the developer experience side, I haven’t worked extensively with the latest versions of Rails, so I don’t have a strong opinion yet on whether Hotwire provides a better frontend experience than React. That said, people I respect in the Rails community speak highly of the Hotwire approach to building modern, interactive UIs without the overhead of a full SPA. I’m sure I could pick it up with a little effort, but it’s not a top priority for me right now.

From a technical perspective, my sense is that teams adopting or reverting to a pure Rails stack, especially with Hotwire, tend to be more conscientious about keeping versions up-to-date, and generally more opinionated and deliberate about tech choices. A few years ago, replacing Rails views with React SPAs was not uncommon. But now that Rails has caught up with tools like Turbo and Stimulus, some teams are intentionally moving back toward server-driven UIs.

In terms of employability, most of the job listings I came across during my recent search were still Rails + React. And given that being fluent in multiple tech stacks broadens my opportunities, I plan to stay in the Rails + React camp for now.

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