How much does it cost to hire a programmer?

[Billion Dollar Boy]

An untrained and low skilled programmer can cost you about $8.00/ hour.
A good programmer averages anywhere from $40 to $100/hour depending on the level of programming and difficulty in the project.

For something like facebook, it could easily cost $30,000 to hire a company to build your project from scratch on a professional level.

HOWEVER, you will probably be able to have it developed by a freelancer for much much less. Maybe someone would build it for $2000 to $5000 . . or maybe less. But, you take some risks when you go with a low cost low budget developer.

Most important . . do your research. Don't pay too much up front. Set up an account and a plan to pay them in parts as the project is developed. And most important . . .hire a developer (or team) in your own country . . . so that if you have a problem with their work or ethics, you can go after them legally.

Best of luck with your developmetn