Ruby: One of the top 5 highest-paying technologies, according to Stack overflow

Introduction

In the world of software development, Ruby has a unique charm that’s kept it relevant and in demand for years. Known for its focus on simplicity and developer happiness, Ruby powers some of the world’s most popular websites and applications, making it a language that doesn’t just get the job done but makes coding genuinely enjoyable.

Year after year, Ruby continues to rank among the highest-paying technologies globally, and it’s not hard to see why. Beyond its elegant syntax and the powerful Ruby on Rails framework, Ruby appeals to a wide range of businesses looking for efficient, well-crafted code—and they’re willing to pay top dollar for it.

The Competitive Landscape for Tech Salaries

In the fast-paced world of technology, programming languages rise and fall in popularity as new ones emerge, specialized for unique tasks or optimized for performance. In recent years, languages like Clojure, Perl, and Zig have consistently ranked at the top in terms of salary, alongside established languages like Ruby. These high salaries are often a direct reflection of each language’s demand, the scarcity of skilled developers, and the specific value they offer to organizations.

For example, Clojure and Zig may not have the same mainstream appeal as JavaScript or Python, but they’re highly valued for specialized roles that require advanced performance or functional programming capabilities. This demand creates a smaller, competitive job market, where companies pay a premium for expertise that can help solve complex problems or deliver cutting-edge solutions.

Salaries in the tech industry can tell us a lot about the market forces at play. High compensation often signals that a technology requires deep expertise, is less commonly known, or has a significant impact on an organization’s efficiency or product.

In this competitive landscape, Ruby’s consistently high salaries suggest it remains indispensable to many organizations, particularly in fields like web development and startups. The continued willingness to invest in Ruby developers, even as newer languages emerge, speaks to Ruby’s staying power and the value it brings to projects that prioritize developer productivity and rapid iteration.

Ruby salary data

According to the Developer Survey conducted annually by the most respected programming resource, stackoverflow.

Stack Overflow’s annual Developer Survey is the largest and most comprehensive survey of people who code around the world.

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

Take a look at the references section if you want to double check the data.

Ruby Salary Trends: 2019-2023

2019: 6th highest salary globally, at $75k, with a $15k gap from the highest (Clojure).
2020: 5th place with $71k, narrowing the gap to $5k from Perl, the highest-paid language.
2021: Returns to 6th at $80k, with a $15k gap from the top (Clojure).
2022: Climbs to 5th at $93k, with a $13k gap from the highest (Clojure).
2023: Reaches 4th with nearly $99k, narrowing the gap to $4k from the highest (Zig).

Data breakdown

Consistent High Ranking

Ruby’s steady position among the top 10 highest-paying technologies from 2019 to 2023 highlights its enduring value in the tech world.

Despite a rapidly changing landscape filled with emerging languages and tools, Ruby has consistently held strong, maintaining a rank between 4th and 6th place globally. This high ranking isn’t just a matter of coincidence—it reflects the steady demand for Ruby expertise across a variety of industries.

The fact that Ruby has remained highly paid over several years suggests a level of trust and reliance from companies, especially in sectors like web development, e-commerce, and tech startups, where Ruby on Rails has become a go-to framework for building robust applications quickly.

Businesses that rely on Ruby are often focused on developer productivity, maintainability, and the ability to bring applications to market smoothly.

This consistent ranking demonstrates that Ruby isn’t just a temporary trend; it’s a mature and reliable choice for companies who value efficiency, scalability, and developer satisfaction.

Steady Salary Increase

Ruby has seen a noticeable rise in average salaries over the past few years, reflecting its sustained demand and relevance in the tech industry. From 2019 to 2023, Ruby developer salaries steadily climbed, starting at $75k and reaching nearly $99k.

This consistent trajectory is a strong indicator that companies recognize and are willing to pay for Ruby’s unique benefits, especially as experienced Ruby developers remain highly valued across many sectors.

These salary increases aren’t just about inflation—they reflect the strategic importance of Ruby in areas like web application development, where speed and efficiency are necessary. Ruby’s ability to help teams build high-quality, scalable applications quickly makes it a favorite in industries where time-to-market and agility are essential.

As more companies see the value of Ruby’s productivity-focused design, demand for skilled developers continues to rise, and salaries follow suit.

For developers, this steady salary growth offers an encouraging outlook. Whether you’re new to Ruby or a seasoned expert, the market’s consistent investment in Ruby skills suggests that learning and mastering the language can lead to increasingly rewarding career opportunities. It’s a clear signal that the language remains valuable, even as new technologies emerge.

Narrowing Salary Gap with Top Technologies

One of the most striking trends in recent years is Ruby’s steady approach to the top of the tech salary charts. In 2019, the gap between Ruby developers and those working with the highest-paying technology was around $15,000.

Fast-forward to 2023, and that gap has shrunk to just about $4,000. This narrowing gap tells an interesting story about Ruby’s place in the tech landscape: it’s a language that continues to grow in competitiveness and value, even as new, highly specialized languages enter the market.

For developers, this trend is promising. It indicates that Ruby, despite being a more established language, remains as financially rewarding as many newer alternatives. This speaks to its adaptability, robust ecosystem, and the strong developer community that continues to advance the language.

Companies clearly recognize that hiring skilled Ruby developers brings long-term value, and as they compete to attract top talent, salaries have risen accordingly.

Ultimately, this narrowing gap highlights that Ruby is a strategic choice for developers seeking both high compensation and diverse opportunities, affirming that it’s not only relevant but also competitive at the highest levels in today’s job market.

Why Ruby?

Developer Productivity and Happiness

One of Ruby’s core philosophies is to make coding a pleasant and productive experience. The language was designed with simplicity and readability in mind, allowing developers to write clear, concise code that’s easy to understand and maintain.

This focus on developer happiness has made Ruby especially popular in environments that prioritize rapid iteration, such as tech startups and agile development teams.

By reducing the cognitive load on developers and speeding up the coding process, Ruby allows teams to focus on building impactful features rather than getting stuck in syntax or overly complex structures.

Loyal community

A key factor behind Ruby’s success is its loyal community and the extensive resources this network has cultivated over the years. Ruby has been around long enough to develop a vast ecosystem filled with powerful libraries, versatile plugins, and thorough documentation.

This community-driven support system provides developers with everything they need to succeed—from robust tools and educational content to networking opportunities and collaborative projects, such as Meetups and Tropical Rails in Brazil.

One of Ruby’s greatest assets is the continued popularity of Ruby on Rails, which has been widely adopted for building reliable, scalable applications. The Ruby community actively contributes to Rails and the language itself, consistently introducing updates, best practices, and new features.

This collaborative environment attracts both new talent and experienced developers, while offering companies confidence in the language’s long-term viability and stability.

For businesses, hiring Ruby developers means accessing not only technical expertise but also a community that has made Ruby development faster, easier, and more reliable.