[caption id="attachment_143926" align="aligncenter" width="6720"] NYC developer base mostly web devs[/caption] A new look at the New York City area breaks down its tech sector, showing what kinds of developers make a living in so-called "Silicon Alley." Stack Overflow’s most recent release suggests that about ten percent of the nation’s developer base is in New York City. A full four percent are in the borough of Manhattan. (This comes from Stack Overflow’s assertion that the United States has nearly 4.7 million developers, with 446,083 in the “total NYC metro area.”) A full 236,558 developers in the NYC metro area self-report as web developers, making it far and away the leading discipline. Another 264,019 say they’re “full stack web developers” (there are also more back-end web devs than front-end: 70,006 and 41,431, respectively). Local Android and iOS developers are almost dead even: 12,719 say they primarily develop Android apps, while 12,688 publish to the iOS App Store. Python is the most popular language: 66,330 use it, outpacing Java’s 60,929 developers. Node.JS, Ruby, .NET, Wordpress and PHP also figure prominently, which makes sense when you consider the type of developers dominating the scene in the NYC area. However, those nearly 13,000 mobile developers earn more than web developers. Stack Overflow’s survey tells us mobile developers make an average of $102,500, while web developers pull down about $96,000 annually (machine learning developers top the list at $108,000 per year). The median salary for developers in the NYC area is $100,000, a full eight percent more than the national average. Experience matters, too. The median salary of developers with over 16 years experience is $124,000 per year, while those just starting out make roughly $78,000. Most are happy where they work, too. Only 14 percent of respondents report they’re actively looking for a job, while 27 percent say they’re absolutely not looking for work. Around 58 percent say they’re happy where they work but are open to new opportunities. (This is why recruiters cold-call!) Part of these job-satisfaction numbers could relate to churn. About 30 percent of developers say they’ve accepted their current position within the last year, with another 19 percent having taken the job between one and two years ago. Another 19 percent say they’ve been in their current roles between two and four years. When you're in a new role, you tend to have heightened enthusiasm for it. What attracts these developers to certain positions is also interesting. An overwhelming number (86 percent) say salary is their primary driver for accepting a job, while 81 percent are most interested in the office environment and culture; some 77 percent say they want the chance to grow their careers. Commute times are important, as are the languages or frameworks they’ll be using. Company diversity ranked last; only 39 percent say it’s important to them. The most attractive perk is health benefits, with the option to work remotely coming in second. Around 40 percent say retirement plans are their biggest concern when it comes to benefits, and 31 percent want a good annual bonus.