IT Salaries Increased 5.2% in 2006; Top 10 Skills, Cities, and Industries
A
survey of more than 19,000 technology professionals found that average IT
salaries in the U.S. increased 5.2% to $73,308 in 2006 from $69,700 in
2005, reports 2006 Annual Salary Survey by Dice. The survey found that
starting salaries outpaced the overall national average, with an increase
of 13.1% to $42,414 in 2006.
Those with one to two years of technology experience also saw strong gains, with a 13.8% increase to $46,935. The gender gap narrowed slightly in 2006, as women in technology earned an average of $67,542 or 9.7% less than their male counterparts.
Top Paying Skills and Experience
Technology professionals earning the highest salaries in 2006 possessed specialized experience in areas such as Enterprise Resource Planning or ERP ($96,161), Sarbanes-Oxley compliance ($91,998) and Customer Relationship Management or CRM ($90,499).
|
Average Salary for Popular IT Skills and Experience |
|
|
|
2006 |
|
ERP |
$96,161 |
|
Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) |
$91,998 |
|
CRM |
$90,499 |
|
SOAP |
$89,243 |
|
Solaris |
$87,476 |
|
AIX |
$87,309 |
|
SAP |
$86,149 |
|
Microsoft Project |
$85,870 |
|
Siebel |
$85,861 |
|
Sybase |
$85,049 |
Geography:
In 2006, Silicon Valley once again ranked as the highest paying metro area for tech professionals with an average salary of $90,310, up 5.7 percent from 2005. Other top paying cities include: Boston ($80,308), New York ($80,006), and Baltimore/Washington D.C. ($79,911).
|
Metro Area IT Salaries: 2005 - 2006 |
||
|
|
2005 |
2006 |
|
Silicon Valley |
$85,430 |
$90,310 |
|
Boston |
$79,211 |
$80,308 |
|
New York |
$76,382 |
$80,006 |
|
Baltimore/Washington D.C. |
$75,593 |
$79,911 |
|
Seattle |
$73,105 |
$79,787 |
|
Los Angeles |
$73,911 |
$79,583 |
|
San Diego |
$72,163 |
$79,416 |
|
Denver |
$74,823 |
$77,317 |
|
Sacramento |
$72,355 |
$75,197 |
|
Chicago |
$71,496 |
$75,154 |
|
Phoenix |
$70,023 |
$74,976 |
|
Dallas/Ft. Worth |
$71,494 |
$74,656 |
|
Philadelphia |
$71,881 |
$72,786 |
Industry:
Banking, financial and insurance was once again the highest paying industry for tech professionals with an average salary of $82,504 in 2006, while telecommunications and computer software followed behind with average salaries of $78,003 and $77,582 respectively.
The retail and e-commerce industry posted the strongest salary gains last year with a 14.2 percent increase to $63,830.
|
Tech Salaries by Industry: 2005 - 2006 |
||
|
|
2005 |
2006 |
|
U.S. Average |
$69,700 |
$73,308 |
|
Bank / Financial / Insurance |
$76,092 |
$82,504 |
|
Telecommunications |
$72,430 |
$78,003 |
|
Computer Software |
$74,730 |
$77,582 |
|
Government / Defense |
$69,078 |
$75,086 |
|
Medical / Pharmaceutical |
$71,714 |
$72,717 |
|
Manufacturing |
$66,732 |
$71,878 |
|
Internet Services |
$65,426 |
$71,854 |
|
Computer Hardware |
$66,462 |
$69,987 |
|
Retail / Mail Order / E-Commerce |
$55,909 |
$63,830 |
The Dice Salary Survey was administered online among 19,182 registered Dice job seekers and visitors between August 2 and November 30, 2006.
