The 2011 IT Salary Guide

Published on: October 26, 2010
Last Updated: October 26, 2010

The 2011 IT Salary Guide

Published on: October 26, 2010
Last Updated: October 26, 2010

The good news: the The 2011 IT Salary Guide demonstrates that IT salary levels are once again headed upward.

The 2011 IT Salary Guide indicates some respectable boosts in average salary. Lead applications developers get a 4.7% increase and software engineers enjoy a 4.1% boost in paycheck.

Okay, so IT managers move up a ho-hum 2.5% and project managers rise 2.8%, but Web developers jump 4.6% and System Security Admins levitate a healthy 4% (seems like security is always hot).

The bad news: these rising IT salary numbers are merely compensating for last year’s 2-4% decreases.

So alas, the net effect is that IT salaries are essentially flat over the last year or so. Yes, times are tough.

Still, IT remains one of the better-paid fields, and a multi-year look at the salary numbers bears this out.

Between 2007 and 2008 – the tail end of the boom years – IT salaries rose an impressive 5.3%. And between 2008 and 2009, before the downturn squeezed IT, paychecks trended upward 3.7%.

IT Salary Happy Days Returning?

Is more IT hiring on the way? I can point to one sunny indicator. I keep an eye on the Dice tech job site. Back around 2007, I remember Dice hosting some 90,000 plus openings.

As the economic headlines turned darker and darker, the total slid down to a depressing 50,000 or so. But a recent glance shows Dice’s listings have risen back to 74,000. Someone tell the band to start playing.

So what’s hot in the IT job market? According to Robert Half Technology (the firm that publishes the annual salary numbers), specialties in demand include programming (particularly .NET, Java, PHP, Silverlight, Flex and SharePoint), ERP skills, security, infrastructure support (help desk pros), and networking (virtualization, cloud computing, SaaS).

IT certifications in demand include Cisco certifications (CCNA), Linux certifications (RHCE), Microsoft certifications (MCAD, MCITP, MCSE, MCTS), Project management certifications (PMP), and Security certifications (CISSP, CCSA, CCSE).

See the 2011 average starting salary for IT positions, with regional differences in IT salary levels and the value of specialty tech skills:

Chief Technology Officer

Information Technology Manager

Developer/Programmer Analyst

Lead Applications Developer

Software Engineer

Systems Administrator

Database Manager

Senior Web Developer

Network Engineer

Project Manager/Senior Consultant

Systems Security Administrator

Help Desk Manager

Job Title: Chief Technology Officer

2011 average salary range: $116,500 – $181,750

• The 2011 salary range is an increase of 4.3% over this job’s 2010 salary range, which was $111,750 – $174,250.

• The 2010 salary range was an increase of 0.9% over this job’s 2009 salary range, which was $110,250 – $173,250.

• The 2009 salary range was an increase of 4% over this job’s 2008 salary range, which was $107,250 – $165,250.

• The 2008 salary range was an increase of 5.2% over this job’s 2007 salary range, which was $101,000 – $157,750.

Job Title: Information Technology Manager

2011 average salary range: $88,250 – $127,000

• The 2011 salary range is an increase of 2.5% over this job’s 2010 salary range, which was $85,750 – $124,250.

• The 2010 salary range was a decrease of 2.4% under this job’s 2009 salary range, which was $88,750 – $126,500.

• The 2009 salary range was an increase of 3.1% over this job’s 2008 salary range, which was $86,750 – $122,000.

Job Title: Developer/Programmer Analyst

2011 average salary range: $57,750 – $102,250

• The 2011 salary range is an increase of 2.4% over this job’s 2010 salary range, which was $57,000 – $99,250.

• The 2010 salary range was a decrease of 2.8% under this job’s 2009 salary range, which was $60,000 – $100,750.

• The 2009 salary range was an increase of 4.2% over this job’s 2008 salary range, which was $57,500 – $96,750.

• The 2008 salary range was an increase of 6.0% over this job’s 2007 salary range, which was $55,250 – $90,750.

• The 2006 salary range was an increase of 4.6% over this job’s 2005 salary range, which was $52,500 – $83,250.

Job Title: Lead Applications Developer

2011 average salary range: $85,000 – $117,500.

• The 2010 salary range is an increase of 4.7% over this job’s 2010 range, which was $81,500 – $112,000.

• The 2010 salary range was a 1.4% decrease under this job’s 2009 range, which was $83,250 – $113,000.

• The 2009 salary range was an increase of 4.2% over this job’s 2008 salary range, which was $80,250 – $108,000.

Job Title: Software Engineer

2011 average salary range: $73,500 – $112,000.

• The 2011 salary range is an increase of 4.1% over this job’s 2010 salary range, which was $71,250 – $107,000.

• The 2010 salary range was a 1.1% decrease under this job’s 2009 salary range, which was $72,000 – $108,250.

• The 2009 salary range was an increase of 3.7% over this job’s 2008 salary range, which was $69,250 – $104,500.

Job Title: Systems Administrator

2011 average salary range: $53,250 – $83,000.

• The 2011 salary range is an increase of 3.6% over this job’s 2010 salary range, which was $51,250 – $80,250.

• The 2010 salary range was a 2.8% decrease under this job’s 2009 salary range, which was $52,750 – $82,500.

• The 2009 salary range was an increase of 3.6% over this job’s 2008 salary range, which was $51,750 – $78,750.

Job Title: Database Manager

2010 average salary range: $92,500 – $128,000.

• The 2011 salary range is an increase of 3.8% over this job’s 2010 salary range, which was $90,000 – $122,500.

• The 2010 salary range was a 2.5% decrease under this job’s 2009 salary range, which was $91,500 – $126,500.

• The 2009 salary range was an increase of 3.1% over this job’s 2008 salary range, which was $88,750 – $122,750.

• The 2008 salary range was an increase of 5.4% over this job’s 2007 salary range, which was $84,750 – $116,000.

• The 2007 salary range was an increase of 2.6% over this job’s 2006 salary range, which was $81,250 – $110,250.

Job Title: Senior Web Developer

2011 average salary range: $58,000 – $94,250.

• The 2011 salary range is an increase of 4.6% over this job’s 2010 salary range, which was $57,500 – $88,000.

• The 2010 salary range was a 2.8% decrease under this job’s 2009 salary range, which was $60,000 – $89,750.

• The 2009 salary range was an increase of 4.4% over this job’s 2008 salary range, which was $57,250 – $86,250.

Job Title: Network Engineer

2011 average salary range: $71,000 – $101,750.

• The 2011 salary range is an increase of 3% over this job’s 2010 salary range, which was $69,250 – $98,500.

• The 2010 salary range was an increase of 0.3% over this job’s 2009 salary range, which was $69,750 – $97,500.

• The 2009 salary range was an increase of 4.0% over this job’s 2008 salary range, which was $67,250 – $93,500.

• The 2008 salary range was an increase of 3% over this job’s 2007 salary range, which was $65,750 – $90,250.

• The 2007 salary range was an increase of 3.3% over this job’s 2006 salary range, which was $61,250 – $88,250.

Job Title: Project Manager/Senior Consultant

2011 average salary range: $81,500 – $117,000.

• The 2011 salary range is an increase of 2.8% over this job’s 2010 salary range, which was $79,500 – $113,500.

• The 2010 salary range was an increase of 0.5% over this job’s 2009 salary range, which was $79,750 – $112,250.

• The 2009 salary range was an increase of 3.1% over this job’s 2008 salary range, which was $76,500 – $111,500.

• The 2008 salary range was an increase of 5% over this job’s 2007 salary range, which was $72,750 – $106,250.

Job Title: Systems Security Administrator

2011 average salary range: $81,500 – $112,500.

• The 2011 salary range is an increase of 4% over this job’s 2010 salary range, which was $78,250 – $108,250.

• The 2010 salary range was an increase of 0.3% over this job’s 2009 salary range, which was $78,000 – $108,000.

• The 2009 salary range was an increase of 5.1% over this job’s 2008 salary range, which was $73,500 – $103,500.

• The 2008 salary range was an increase of 4% over this job’s 2007 salary range, which was $70,500 – $99,750.

• The 2007 salary range was an increase of 3.9% over this job’s 2006 salary range, which was $67,500 – $92,750.

Job Title: Help Desk Manager

2011 average salary range: $68,000 – $96,750.

• The 2011 salary range is an increase of 3.5% over this job’s 2010 salary range, which was $66,500 – $92,750.

• The 2010 salary range was a decrease of 2.2% under this job’s 2009 salary range, which was $68,000 – $94,750.

• The 2009 salary range was an increase of 3.5% over this job’s 2008 salary range, which was $65,250 – $92,000.

• The 2008 salary range was an increase of 4.3% over this job’s 2007 salary range, which was $62,500 – $88,250.

• The 2007 salary range was an increase of 2.8% over this job’s 2006 salary range, which was $59,000 – $85,500.

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Written by Bobby

Bobby Lawson is a seasoned technology writer with over a decade of experience in the industry. He has written extensively on topics such as cybersecurity, cloud computing, and data analytics. His articles have been featured in several prominent publications, and he is known for his ability to distill complex technical concepts into easily digestible content.