WordPress Developer Salary – What You Need to Know

When talking about WordPress developer salary, the yearly earnings that professionals earn while building and maintaining WordPress sites. Also known as WP developer pay, it varies by experience, location, and whether you freelance or work in‑house.

The WordPress developer, a specialist who crafts themes, plugins, and custom solutions on the WordPress platform often shares the market with PHP developer, a coder focused on server‑side logic using the PHP language. Because WordPress runs on PHP, the two roles overlap, and salary data for PHP developers helps set realistic expectations for WordPress pay. In the UK, a junior WordPress dev can start around £30k, while senior experts push past £70k, especially when they add e‑commerce or headless WordPress skills. Remote work and freelance contracts add another layer: freelancers often bill £40‑£80 per hour, translating to six‑figure incomes if they secure steady clients.

Key Factors That Shape Your Earnings

Three main elements drive the WordPress developer salary curve. First, skill depth: mastering Gutenberg blocks, REST API, and performance optimization commands higher rates. Second, industry demand: agencies serving e‑commerce, SaaS, or large enterprises pay more for developers who can integrate WooCommerce, custom APIs, or headless setups. Third, location and work model: London‑based roles still top the pay chart, but remote positions let talent from lower‑cost regions compete for equal dollars. These factors intersect – a remote senior dev with niche expertise can out‑earn a local mid‑level teammate.

Another useful comparison comes from the broader web developer salary, average earnings across front‑end, back‑end, and full‑stack roles. While a generic web developer in the UK averages £45k, WordPress specialists who add SEO, security, and performance tuning often exceed that baseline. Meanwhile, PHP developers focusing on Laravel or Symfony can pull similar figures, especially when they contribute to large SaaS platforms. Understanding these overlaps helps you negotiate better and choose the right career path.

Finally, market trends like the rise of headless WordPress and the shift toward JAMstack are reshaping the pay landscape. As more companies decouple the front end, WordPress devs who learn React or Vue and can deliver API‑first solutions see a salary bump of 10‑20 %. This evolution illustrates the semantic triple: WordPress developer salary encompasses headless expertise; headless expertise requires modern JavaScript skills; modern JavaScript skills boost earnings. Keep an eye on emerging tools, because the next salary jump may come from mastering something you haven’t tried yet.

Below you’ll find a curated collection of articles that dig deeper into these points – from real‑world salary breakdowns to tips on negotiating freelance rates, and a look at how related roles like PHP and full‑stack developers compare. Dive in to see the numbers, strategies, and future‑proof skills that can raise your paycheck.