Main image of article Where Tech Ranks Among Top-Paying Jobs
Glassdoor just released its list of the 25 top-paying jobs in America, and several tech positions made the cut:
  • Software Development Manager ranked fourth on the list, with a median base salary of $132,000, beaten only by the non-tech positions of (in descending order) Physician, Lawyer, and Research & Development Manager.
  • Software Architect came in seventh, with a median base salary of $128,250, followed by Integrated Circuit Designer Engineer ($127,500), IT Manager ($120,000), and Solutions Architect ($120,000).
  • Applications Development Manager ranked twelfth, also with a median base salary of $120,000. Systems Architect, in fourteenth place, drew a median base salary of $116,920, followed in sixteenth place by Data Scientist ($115,000).
  • Further down, Data Architect came in at twentieth with $113,000, while Information Systems Manager rounded out the list at twenty-fifth with $106,000.
According to Dice’s most recent Salary Survey, the average annual technology salary in the U.S. hit $96,370 in 2015, but technology professionals in “hot” categories such as cloud computing can expect to pull down far more, especially if they have lots of experience. The Dice Salary Survey suggested that positions in Executive Tech Management (i.e., CEO, CIO, and CTO) pulled down the most among tech professionals, with average annual salaries of $145,133 (up 7.1 percent from the previous year). Systems Architects could also expect to earn quite a bit, with average annual salaries of $135,812. That’s no surprise, considering the complexity and importance of a job that centers on setting up hardware and software infrastructure. Tech Management roles scored high on Dice’s list, with an average annual salary of $129,129. That broad category includes software- and application-development managers. Database administrators and cyber-security experts likewise earned an average of six figures a year, according to Dice’s data. Why are tech professionals pulling down such high salaries? From an employer perspective, the obvious answer is “demand.” As large tech companies rapidly migrate to the cloud, and startups spring up to release new apps and services, and “regular” firms upgrade their respective tech stacks, pros with highly specialized skills are needed to implement and upgrade the software and hardware underlying all these initiatives. Among those tech professionals surveyed by Dice, some 38 percent reported that their most recent salary increase was a merit raise, while 23 percent said that “changing employers” had resulted in a pay bump. Overtime, counteroffers, and mandated company-wide increases also powered pay increases, albeit to a much smaller degree. What can you conclude from all this data? For those tech professionals with the right skills and experience, a very solid payday may await.