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Ask HN: What is the going hourly rate for co-op/interns these days?

9 points by et5000 ↗ HN
At my company we are paying $25/hr + overtime (in Cambridge, MA), but lately I'm hearing a lot of students asking for $35-40/hr and wondering if that's a more standard rate nowadays.

How much do you pay at startups big and small?

UPDATED: my location

9 comments

[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 31.7 ms ] thread
caw
Can you update with a location? I think that matters a lot.

In Georgia, my friends and I were getting from $16-$25 an hour. My first internship paid only $14 an hour, but I got a 401k match of 3%, health insurance (if I wanted it), bereavement leave, paid vacation and holidays. My co-op paid more but didn't have any of those perks.

et5000
Location updated: Cambridge, MA
benmanns
In Lynchburg, VA (it's no San Francisco), my peers think that around $20/hour is a good rate for an internship at a fairly large insurance company. Some smaller businesses and non-profits pay around $10/hour. I've got a lot more experience and some business sense, so I charge significantly more.
drharris
My co-op 10 years ago in GA paid $12/hr. Now, in SC (upstate, suburb), we pay between $22-26 for an engineering position depending on the longevity of employment. I think $35 is probably way too much for what value you will get; some experienced professionals will take that pay. If you're in NYC... maybe it's a bit more reasonable.
logn
When I co-op'd in college in a medium-sized city I got $12-13/hr. My recent job paid interns $15/hr plus housing allowance.
zengr
Maybe students asking for $35-40/hr because big companies like eBay (in the bay area) pays ~$45-50/hr to interns and students are looking for that kind of money.
achompas
The market in NYC pays $4-5k/month for interns, from what I've seen and heard. That's just a bit below the $35-40/hour number you list above.

It's arguably justified, since companies expect interns to ship production-level code, but that's another conversation!

hoka
I've seen Austin, TX companies offer between 19 and 23 depending on your academic standing.

I've also seen 22 in Cambridge.

aliukani
My school (Northeastern University CCIS) has a list of suggested salaries: http://www.ccs.neu.edu/co-op/employers/index.html#salaries

  Average CCIS Co-op Salaries
  Student Level               Average  Midpoint  Average top 25%
  Undergraduate First Co-op   $20.00   $19.00    $28.00
  Undergraduate Second Co-op  $22.00   $22.00    $29.00
  Undergraduate Third Co-op   $23.50   $23.00    $30.00
  Graduate Co-op              $28.00   $28.50    $34.00