As part of its continuing exploration of income in the United States, NPR used data from the American Community Survey
to create a graph of the 10 most popular jobs in each income bracket.
Software development and
IT remain common jobs among those in the higher brackets, although not the topmost one. 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.
Click here to find software development jobs. 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. “This is the kind of work that needs to get done in every city in America,” read the NPR posting that
accompanied the data. “It shows that, at least nationally, the conventional idea of what people do for a living still holds.”
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Dice has come to similar conclusions about IT salaries.
The company’s 2014-2013 Salary Survey found that the average U.S. tech salary hit $87,811 in 2013, up three percent from 2012. In hot markets such as Silicon Valley and New York City, the average is even higher, nearing or topping $100,000 in some instances. Among startups,
the competition for skilled candidates is especially fierce, leading to spikes in pay. It is, in other words, a very good time to be in IT, provided you have a desirable skill set.
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Image: NPR 
