There’s a lot of interest in growing one’s career and becoming a Scrum Master for a Scrum Team. But what is normal for a Scrum Master Salary and is it worth leaving your current career for a change? So I did some research, and there’s a lot of numbers out there. I’ve seen $105,000 a year on average, $108,000 a year on average. I’ve seen as much as $125,000 a year on average here in the United States. So what does this mean to you? Check the links below for my research on where I’m coming up with these numbers.
Scrum Master Salary: What do I need to know?
So the first thing I’d like to talk about is well, why is a Scrum Master Salary sometimes that high? The first thing is, well, Scrum is hard to learn. It’s also hard to teach. It’s also hard to mentor. If you have these skill sets, you’re going to be in high demand. A couple other reasons why you might be in such high demand is because typically people that are Scrum Masters have come out of some other profession and have a lot of years of experience. Some of those roles include project managers, software developers, managers, engineers, and a few others, but I mean, by and large, these types of jobs already command a pretty high salary. Taking what you know from those industries and moving into a Scrum Master role, you’re probably not going to take a step down in salary. Let’s just put it that way. But also, you can really impact the bottom line of a company if you know what you’re doing as a Scrum Master.
Being agile is about responding to change. Being agile is about reducing waste whenever possible. Being agile is about delivering more value than you could before. And all of these are impacts that the leadership team is going to be very interested in having. Scrum Masters, they have a lot of skills, they typically have a very strong background, and it’s no wonder why a Scrum Master Salary can be pretty high.
Another reason why they might command high salaries is it’s often a field associated with consulting, and so what I mean by that is there’ll be advertisements out there about you flying to Connecticut for you know, a six month engagement, and they’re gonna pay you $75 to $100 an hour. Now, you do have to factor in the cost of travel and a few other things especially if you’re going to be working as an independent contractor where you’re paying all your own taxes and expenses. But yeah, you could be making north of $200,000 a year depending on the engagements that you set up, especially if you’re going as an independent contractor.
What skills do you need to be a Scrum Master and make these kinds of dollars? Well, the first one is I will take those words literally, you are a master of Scrum. If you’re a Scrum Master. It’s kind of like being a karate master. No one with a white belt would be considered a karate master. So it’s not just about getting a certification, though that can help. But it’s about being educated. It’s about staying up to date. It’s about reading good books. It’s about learning new things and learning areas that are outside of Scrum that you can apply in the context of Scrum. It’s about being able to influence without authority. If you’re working with a team, telling them that not following the rules doesn’t usually get you very far. So you need to be able to influence, you need to be able to teach, and frankly, people need to be able to follow you and want to follow you if you’re going to consider yourself some sort of a leader who serves your team.
How can you get a job as a Scrum Master and earn the Scrum Master Salary you should earn? Well, I mean, there’s a lot of ways for one, put your resume up on monster.com or indeed, and number two, leverage LinkedIn. It’s a great way to network. It’s a great way to have recruiters find you. I hear the majority of people find their jobs through their network rather than just applying for them. So leverage your network.
If there is any way we at Responsive Advisors can help you grow your skills to be an amazing Scrum Master and earn the Scrum Master Salary we’ve described in this post, please reach out! We’re super friendly and can help you make the right decision about which of our classes might be the best fit for you and your specific training needs.
Scrum Master Salary Research:
