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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 |
| 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 |
Data courtesy of Janco Associates.
