IT Salaries, 2003-2008

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Update: See the 2009 IT Salary Guide

Also see: IT Salary Survey, January 2009 (gives comparative numbers between '08 and '09.)

Below, you’ll see salary figures for many IT positions, tracking pay changes for each year from 2003 to 2008.

The salary figures cover a wide range of IT jobs. On this page you’ll see Programmers and Software Engineers, while on later pages you’ll see salary figures for PC Specialists, Database Managers, Network Specialists, Web analysts, LAN experts, CIOs, and several other positions.

Notice that many of these salaries don’t move steadily upward; instead they tend to bounce up and down over a multi-year period. If you’ve been in the IT job market, it’s likely you won’t be surprised by this. As the tech world changes – always quickly – the market value of tech skills also changes. Anything from outsourcing to the overall economy affects the yearly pay range of a given IT position.

IT continues to be one of the better-paid career choices, but IT staffers must deal with constant upheaval. Companies start-up, merge, downsize and shift focus with unsettling regularity. The old-fashioned concept of a staffer staying with a single firm for 35 years, retiring with a gold watch and a handshake, is merely quaint. This lack of stability is reflected in the gyrations you'll see in these salary figures – in contrast to the traditional steady raise some workers might have expected.

This data is courtesy of Janco Associates, a consulting firm specializing in developing IT infrastructure. The company is often involved with staffing issues, hence its expertise in IT salaries. Additionally, the firm's CEO, Victor Janulaitis, developed the disaster recovery facility in New Jersey for Merrill Lynch that the financial company used on 9/11; his template for disaster recovery facilities is used by many large companies. Janco is based on Park City, Utah. The firm publishes a full list of IT salaries.

Note: these IT salary numbers, which come from both employers and employees, are median figures. That is, they represent the middle of the pay scale.

*Job Title:*	Systems Programmer
2003	$83,588
2004	$84,915
2005	$81,308
2006	$81,678
2007	$79,770
2008	$78,685

*Job Title:*	Programmer/Analyst
2003	$69,445
2004	$72,145
2005	$74,876
2006	$74,772
2007	$74.019
2008	$73,779

*Job Title:*	Software Engineer
2003	$87,838
2004	$90,887
2005	$89,220
2006	$86,869
2007	$85,355
2008	$84,967

*Job Title:*	Object Visual Programmer
2003	$76,377
2004	$81,549
2005	$80,969
2006	$75,347
2007	$77,854
2008	$76,370

Continued: More IT Salary Figures, 2003-2008

*Job Title:*	Manager, Systems and Programming
2003	$111,204
2004	$111,647
2005	$107,985
2006	$104,498
2007	$103,157
2008	$103,827

*Job Title:*	Data Center Administrator
2003	$71,284
2004	$72,410
2005	$60,702
2006	$61,502
2007	$61,342
2008	$62,582

*Job Title:*	Personal Computer Specialist
2003	$47,351
2004	$49,837
2005	$47,812
2006	$50,000
2007	$49,212
2008	$49,299

*Job Title:*	Disaster Recovery Coordinator
2003	$62,927
2004	$67,237
2005	$66,580
2006	$68,213
2007	$69,755
2008	$71,900

*Job Title:*	Data Security Adminstrator
2003	$61,911
2004	$67,283
2005	$64,440
2006	$70,362
2007	$73,539
2008	$69,200

Continued: More IT Salary Figures, 2003-2008

Data courtesy of Janco Associates.

*Job Title:*	Manager, Computer Operations
2003	$90,102
2004	$85,318
2005	$85,479
2006	$84,102
2007	$94,540
2008	$91,113

*Job Title:*	Manager, Network Services
2003	$95,806
2004	$90,286
2005	$94,375
2006	$92,123
2007	$86,797
2008	$85,140

*Job Title:*	Database Manager
2003	$86,492
2004	$90,615
2005	$89,030
2006	$90,128
2007	$92,980
2008	$90,205

*Job Title:*	Manager, Customer Service
2003	$72,717
2004	$74,704
2005	$67,251
2006	$67,999
2007	$70,625
2008	$71,241

*Job Title:*	Webmaster
2003	$62,641
2004	$67,752
2005	$67,183
2006	$65,058
2007	$64,024
2008	$63,530

Continued: More IT Salary Figures, 2003-2008

Data courtesy of Janco Associates.

*Job Title:*	Technical Services Specialist
2003	$50,715
2004	$55,654
2005	$54,140
2006	$53,920
2007	$57,352
2008	$58,273

*Job Title:*	Senior Network Specialist
2003	$94,357
2004	$91,557
2005	$86,610
2006	$85,804
2007	$88,689
2008	$89,672

*Job Title:*	Network Control Analyst
2003	$87,730
2004	$80,664
2005	$73,737
2006	$74,141
2007	$73,990
2008	$75,973

*Job Title:*	Internet Developer
2003	$72,062
2004	$73,629
2005	$81,031
2006	$81,141
2007	$76,294
2008	$75,861

*Job Title:*	E-commerce Specialist
2003	$77,886
2004	$81,528
2005	$80,894
2006	$82,396
2007	$82,720
2008	$82,765

Continued: More IT Salary Figures, 2003-2008

Data courtesy of Janco Associates.

*Job Title:*	Network Technician
2003	$57,479
2004	$57,966
2005	$56,019
2006	$54,346
2007	$55,318
2008	$55,743

*Job Title:*	Hardware Installations Coordinator
2003	$54,799
2004	$56,875
2005	$52,433
2006	$51,754
2007	$51,898
2008	$51,898

*Job Title:*	Web Analyst
2003	$65,441
2004	$62,915
2005	$59,512
2006	$60,712
2007	$60,712
2008	$60,189

*Job Title:*	Manager, Internet Systems
2003	$77,882
2004	$77,753
2005	$84,677
2006	$87,626
2007	$93,522
2008	$89,788

*Job Title:*	Manager, Training and Documentation
2003	$79,121
2004	$85,400
2005	$78,837
2006	$76,980
2007	$78,150
2008	$78,329

Continued: More IT Salary Figures, 2003-2008

Data courtesy of Janco Associates.

*Job Title:*	LAN Applications Support Analyst
2003	$50,339
2004	$52,490
2005	$54,428
2006	$59,013
2007	$60,358
2008	$59,205

*Job Title:*	IS Planning Analyst
2003	$84,037
2004	$80,311
2005	$75,815
2006	$78,953
2007	$79,244
2008	$79,171

*Job Title:*	Manager, Voice and Data Comm.
2003	$77,416
2004	$82,699
2005	$85,437
2006	$91,086
2007	$99,299
2008	$93,169

*Job Title:*	Project Manager - Applications
2003	$96,096
2004	$97,511
2005	$100,122
2006	$100,016
2007	$100,347
2008	$100,579

*Job Title:*	Project Manager - Systems
2003	$85,049
2004	$90,685
2005	$95,113
2006	$93,295
2007	$91,424
2008	$91,769

Continued: More IT Salary Figures, 2003-2008

Data courtesy of Janco Associates.

These figures list IT salaries for both large and medium-sized companies. You’ll notice that, in general, large companies pay more (large firms tend to have larger IT functions). But there are plenty of exceptions to this. Some of the data comes from privately held companies, which in some cases are willing to pay a handsome premium for key personnel.

Job Title: Chief Information Officer, CIO:

*Company Size:*	Large	Medium
2003	$168,788	$165,792
2004	$167,508	$176,357
2005	$169,601	$171,791
2006	$169,324	$172,351
2007	$174,979	$169,504
2008	$181,240	$171,200

Job Title: Director, Production/Data Center:

*Company Size:*	Large	Medium
2003	$120,012	$109,106
2004	$122,791	$115,901
2005	$126,571	$115,976
2006	$126,852	$111,810
2007	$158,466	$111,337
2008	$131,148	$112,341

Job Title: VP, Consulting Services:

*Company Size:*	Large	Medium
2003	$136,171	$127,520
2004	$138,117	$132,018
2005	$139,462	$135,338
2006	$145,176	$135,888
2007	$140,809	$142,974
2008	$138,946	$144,927

Job Title: VP, Information Services:

*Company Size:*	Large	Medium
2003	$113, 901	$108,682
2004	$116,437	$108,389
2005	$134,227	$108,173
2006	$134,584	$106,746
2007	$144,928	$111,576
2008	$143,276	$116,383