The Salary "Reality Check"

We track the median salaries, not the "top 1%" outliers. Most "Average Salary" reports are inflated by unicorns and US-remote roles. This is what the actual Indian market pays.

Last Updated: December 2025

Role & Context Exp Real Range (LPA) The "Hype"
Junior Dev (Service Co.)
TCS, Wipro, Infy, etc.
0-2y 3.2 - 4.5 10.0
Junior Dev (Startups)
Series A/B funded
0-2y 6.0 - 12.0 20.0
Senior Backend Dev
Java/Spring/Node
5-8y 18.0 - 28.0 60.0
QA / Automation Engineer
Selenium/Python
3-5y 6.0 - 10.0 20.0
Data Scientist (Junior)
Mostly SQL/Cleaning
0-2y 5.0 - 9.0 18.0
Role & Context Exp Real Range (LPA) The "Hype"
UX Designer (Agency)
High volume, low strategy
1-3y 3.6 - 6.0 15.0
Product Designer (Tech)
Product-led companies
2-4y 9.0 - 16.0 30.0
Graphic Designer
Social Media/Marketing
1-3y 2.4 - 4.5 10.0
Product Manager
Generalist / Feature Owner
3-5y 15.0 - 25.0 50.0
Role & Context Exp Real Range (LPA) The "Hype"
Digital Marketer
PPC/SEO Execution
1-3y 3.0 - 5.5 12.0
Content Writer
Blogs/Social Copy
1-3y 2.4 - 4.8 10.0
B2B Sales (SaaS)
Base Salary (Excl. Comm)
2-4y 6.0 - 10.0 25.0
HR Recruiter
Agency or Corporate
2-4y 3.5 - 6.0 12.0

⚠️ How to read this

The "Hype" number is what influencers, bootcamps, and viral LinkedIn posts tell you to expect.

The "Real Range" is what 80% of companies actually offer. This includes Service-based giants (TCS, Infosys) and mid-sized agencies, which make up 90% of the hiring volume in India.

Verdict: Plan your life based on the reality, not the lottery.