Technology professionals are receiving their largest annual salary growth since 2008, according to the 2012-2011 Salary Survey from Dice, the career site for technology and engineering professionals.
For two consecutive years, wages among technology professionals hovered at a flat rate, but now the average tech professional is gaining a salary growth of more than 2 percent, which raises the average annual wage to $81,327 from $79,384 in 2010.
The average bonus jumped even higher to 8 percent for $8,769 in bonus pay, the survey finds. More technology professionals are also receiving bonuses at 32 percent in 2011 compared with 29 percent in 2010 and 24 percent in 2009. Telecom, hardware, banking, utilities and energy, and software are the industries that most commonly award bonuses.
Recommended For You
"Finally, compensation has mustered some momentum, as more and more top tech markets are notching increases in pay," says Tom Silver, senior vice president of North America at Dice. "Silicon Valley's compensation moved first and wrote the playbook for highly qualified tech professionals to ask for more – whether that be in Seattle, Houston or Raleigh. The increasing popularity of bonuses shows companies are rewarding their top performers. While everyone loves a bonus, anyone who has been through a cycle knows that bonuses both reward and punish. In fast-changing markets, it's imperative for highly skilled tech professionals to capitalize on their career and compensation options."
For Silicon Valley technology professional, annual salaries are hitting six figures at $104,195 for the first time since the survey began about 10 years ago ago. The represents a 5 percent increase from year to year. Bonuses are also bigger and are given more often in Silicon Valley as 38 percent of technology professionals are receiving bonuses at an average of $12,450.
Other technology markets saw pay growth, according to the survey. Among the top 20 cities for technology jobs, 12 had above-average wage growth with the largest being Austin, Texas, at a 13 percent jump in pay to average $89,419. Portland, Ore., is seeing an increase of 12 percent to $82,055 while Houston is experiencing a 7 percent growth to $89,307, and Washington, D.C., is facing a 6 percent growth to $94,317. Chicago and Seattle are seeing 5 percent increases in average technology salaries, and Denver and Dallas-Ft. Worth managed 4 percent growth. New York City; Los Angeles; and Raleigh, N.C., are growing at 3 percent.
"Conventional wisdom says that as Silicon Valley goes, so goes the tech world," Silver says. "That's true, and Silicon Valley is going well, but it doesn't tell the entire story when it comes to tech employment. Nationally, we're seeing stiffer competition and higher salaries for tech pros with the right skill sets and the right experience level."
Although salaries for technology professionals are rising, entry-level salaries are still declining, the survey finds. Of the professionals who are receiving pay raises have 11 or more years of experience in their field.
"This looks like a push towards enterprise java – with WebSphere, JBoss and WebLogic showing outsized gains, not to mention a continuation of the trends we've seen toward tech professionals helping their companies gain more insight into their cost structures, customer behavior and emerging trends," says Alice Hill, managing director of Dice.com. "If tech professionals spark companies to win by harnessing their data, that's when the tech department is no longer seen as a cost center, but a strategic partner in meeting companies' goals."
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
