Swift Developer Salaries Soar: 20% Growth in Six Months

Swift (iOS/macOS) developer salaries have grown by 20%: what's happening in the market?

The job market for Swift developers is once again showing confident growth. According to the latest data from analytical agencies and job aggregators, average salaries for iOS and macOS specialists have increased by 20% over the past six months. This trend has affected both junior specialists and experienced lead developers. We analyze why companies are willing to pay more and which skills are currently in demand.

Numbers and facts: who and how much?

An analysis of over 15,000 job vacancies on major IT platforms (HeadHunter, LinkedIn, Glassdoor) showed the following changes:

• Junior Swift developer: median salary increased from 80,000 to 96,000 rubles (+20%). Main demand — knowledge of UIKit and SwiftUI.
• Middle (iOS/macOS): growth from 180,000 to 216,000 rubles. Key requirement — experience with multithreading and Core Data.
• Senior and Lead: the upper limit has risen to 500,000 rubles. Companies are looking for experts with experience in VIPER and TCA architecture.

Why are Swift developer salaries growing?

Experts highlight three main reasons:

• Shortage of personnel. Swift is a niche language compared to Java or Python. The number of experienced iOS developers is not keeping up with demand, especially in the regions.
• Transition to SwiftUI. Apple is actively promoting the new paradigm. Companies are willing to pay premiums for developers proficient in SwiftUI and Combine.
• Growth of the fintech and enterprise sector. Banks, crypto exchanges, and corporate giants (e.g., Sber and Tinkoff) are massively hiring Swift teams to create banking and payment applications.

Which technologies bring more money?

To qualify for above-market salaries, it's worth mastering:

• SwiftUI + Combine — the basic stack for modern iOS 17+ projects.
• TCA (The Composable Architecture) — the standard for large financial applications.
• macOS development — developing native desktop applications for Mac, which is currently experiencing a renaissance due to the transition to Apple Silicon.
• CI/CD for the Apple ecosystem — setting up Fastlane, GitHub Actions for Xcode.

Forecast: what to expect in 2025?

Analysts predict that salary growth will continue but slow down to 10-15%. The main demand will shift towards developers who can work with Swift 6 and new frameworks for Vision Pro. Already, vacancies for visionOS developers offer 30% more than regular iOS positions.

For those just entering the profession, advice: start by learning SwiftUI and don't ignore the basics of UIKit — legacy projects still bring in the lion's share of income in freelancing.

Sources: data from the portal "Habr Career", SuperJob research for Q2 2024.