Developers, IT Still Racking Up (Mostly) High Salaries

Nerval's Lobster (2598977) writes Software development and IT remain common jobs among those in the higher brackets, although not the topmost one, according to a new study (with graph) commissioned by NPR. Among those earning between $58,000 and $72,000, IT was the sixth-most-popular job, while software developers came in tenth place. In the next bracket up (earning between $72,000 and $103,000), IT rose to third, with software development just behind in fourth place. As incomes increased another level ($103,000 to $207,000), software developers did even better, coming in second behind managers, although IT dropped off the list entirely. In the top percentile ($207,000 and above), neither software developers nor IT staff managed to place; this is a segment chiefly occupied by physicians (in first place), managers, chief executives, lawyers, and salespeople who are really good at their jobs. In other words, it seems like a good time to be in IT, provided you have a particular skillset. If those high salaries are in Silicon Valley or New York, though, they might not seem as high as half the same rate would in Omaha, or Houston, or Raleigh.

Comments

Bad statistics

[arielCo]

Telling me the composition by career of the top earners is as useful as telling me their composition by handedness - you're telling the story backwards.

Career-wise, it would be useful to tell us the likelihood of making each earning bracket *by career*.

Re:Clearly....

[lgw]

If you develop software for $40k, you should be looking. If you're willing to relocate and aren't fresh out of school, you'll certainly double, maybe triple that. All the big companies are hiring now. Make sure your resume is visible on LinkedIn (and maybe that Dice site, I guess) - I know my team is searching the nation for anyone qualified and willing to relocate, and we're not alone in that!