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The Dice 2020 Tech Salary Report: Satisfied technologists primed to innovate if employers shift to more holistic offerings
NEW YORK, Jan. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- DHI Group, Inc. (NYSE: DHX) announced today that Dice, its leading career marketplace for technology professionals, has released its annual Dice 2020 Tech Salary Report.
In 2019, the average U.S. annual salary in the technology industry hit $94,000, up just 1.3% from 2018. Some of the nation's largest tech hubs saw increased salaries in 2019 – Silicon Valley (including San Francisco) saw average salaries increase 4.7% year-over-year, to $123,826. In New York City, salaries crept up 1.7%, to $102,359.
However, in emerging tech hubs, technology salaries have jumped considerably, suggesting localized demand for technologists who specialize in a variety of specific platforms. 2019's evolving cities of note include:
- Columbus - rising demand in both private and public sectors
- Average salary $92,017; 14.2% growth Y/Y
- St. Louis – large-scale businesses hiring at high volume
- Average salary $97,892; 13.6% growth Y/Y
- Atlanta – powerful tech community presence
- Average salary $94,084; 9.5% growth Y/Y
- Denver – companies moving to or expanding in Denver
- Average salary $102,557; 6.5% growth Y/Y
- Dallas Fort Worth - more salary growth than Austin in 2019
- Average salary $95,002; 5.8% growth Y/Y
- San Diego - most job posting growth in California
- Average salary $109,428; 5.4% growth Y/Y
Satisfied technologists seek holistic approach to work
As a whole, 38% of technologists said they are likely to change employers in 2020, which is down from 45% in 2019. While external factors - like 2020 being an election year - may contribute to more technologists wanting to stay with their current employer, satisfaction among technologists remains relatively high, as nearly half said they were satisfied or very satisfied with their current or most recent job. In order to attract specialized technologists, employers should consider a strategy shift toward more holistic offerings for top talent.
"In order to support tech as an ever-growing field across industries, employers should understand the benefits that make the most impact to skilled technologists," shared Art Zeile, CEO of DHI Group, Inc., parent company to Dice. "To entice top talent, in addition to compensation, a focus on 'emerging' benefits and remote work options will position tech companies' roles at the top of the stack for in-demand experts," said Zeile.
Emerging benefits and remote work
This year's report shows that technologists are interested in emerging benefits such as college tuition reimbursement (which 48% expressed interest in, though only 25% report receiving it as a benefit), wellness programs (45% expressed interest, up 6% from last year), maternity/paternity leave (45%, up 11% from last year), and paid volunteer opportunities (35%, up 7% from last year).
In addition to more nuanced benefits, remote work remains a desire for more than half of technologists as 61% of survey respondents said that they wanted to work remotely at least half the time, but only 24% of them have the opportunity to do so.
Work/life balance and a focus on creativity
2019 data showed that work-life balance was the top-rated motivator employers provided to technologists (40%), with higher rates than recognition (33%), health or retirement benefits (31%), and higher compensation or promotion (26%).
"We're excited to share that this year's report brought to light a new tool for balancing the demands of technology work. With over a quarter of technologists seeking opportunities to be more creative in their jobs, employers can meet this need by offering special projects and empowering technologists to approach projects in distinct and creative ways, allowing room for continued innovation and in turn, increased satisfaction for technologists," said Michelle Marian, CMO of DHI Group, Inc., parent company of Dice.
Top Salaries by Metro
Metro |
2019 Salary |
2018-2019 % Change |
Silicon Valley |
$123,826 |
4.7% |
Seattle |
$109,628 |
4.3% |
San Diego |
$109,428 |
5.4% |
Boston |
$108,438 |
5.2% |
Baltimore/Washington D.C. |
$103,816 |
2.5% |
Portland, OR |
$102,703 |
1.7% |
Denver |
$102,557 |
6.5% |
New York |
$102,359 |
1.7% |
St. Louis |
$97,892 |
13.6% |
Los Angeles |
$97,872 |
1.7% |
Raleigh |
$95,810 |
5.2% |
Austin, TX |
$95,118 |
4.1% |
Dallas/Ft. Worth |
$95,002 |
5.8% |
Chicago |
$94,651 |
2.5% |
Atlanta |
$94,084 |
9.5% |
Houston |
$93,129 |
1.7% |
Columbus |
$92,017 |
14.2% |
Kansas City |
$90,092 |
8.1% |
Philadelphia |
$89,095 |
-4.5% |
Tampa |
$88,753 |
-8.3% |
Fastest Growing Tech Skills
Skill |
2019 Salary |
2018-2019 % Change |
Chef |
$132,136 |
19.50% |
Spring Framework |
$127,286 |
16.00% |
Jetty |
$128,751 |
14.40% |
Mokito |
$131,772 |
11.50% |
HANA |
$134,462 |
9.40% |
Cloudera |
$133,695 |
8.90% |
Zookeeper |
$129,833 |
8.20% |
MapReduce |
$132,708 |
7.90% |
Amazon Route 53 |
$129,295 |
7.70% |
Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) |
$131,556 |
7.60% |
Cassandra |
$132,497 |
6.70% |
PAAS |
$130,669 |
6.30% |
Containers |
$127,110 |
5.70% |
Apache Kafka |
$134,557 |
5.50% |
Elasticsearch |
$129,938 |
4.80% |
Amazon Redshift |
$130,723 |
4.50% |
NoSQL |
$127,741 |
4.30% |
Redis |
$127,441 |
4.00% |
Deep Learning |
$129,978 |
N/A |
Full Report for Employers
Tech employers can view or download The Dice 2020 Tech Salary Report.
Full Report for Press
Press can email dicemedia@dice.com for an ungated link to the full report for viewing or download.
Report Methodology
The Dice Salary Survey was administered online by Dice.com, with 12,837 employed U.S.-based technology professionals responding between October 14, 2019 and December 17, 2019. To learn more about how respondents were invited to respond to the survey, our cookie methodology, and our salary cap, please view the methodology in the full report. Job posting data was gathered by Dice's partner, Burning Glass Technologies, which has a database of more than 1 billion current and historical job postings worldwide. For the purpose of identifying growth, job postings between 2018 and 2019 were compared. Key employers, roles, and skills were identified by analyzing job post data for 2019 only.
About Dice
Dice is a leading tech career hub connecting employers with skilled technology professionals and providing tech professionals with career opportunities, data, insights and advice. Established in 1990, Dice began as one of the first career sites and today provides a comprehensive suite of recruiting solutions, empowering companies and recruiters to make informed hiring decisions. Dice serves multiple markets throughout North America. http://www.dice.com/, Twitter, Facebook. Dice is a DHI Group, Inc. (NYSE:DHX) service.
About DHI Group, Inc.
DHI Group, Inc. (NYSE:DHX) is a leading provider of data, insights and employment connections through our specialized services for technology professionals and other select online communities. Our mission is to empower technology professionals and organizations that hire them to compete and win through expert insights and relevant employment connections. Employers and recruiters use our websites and services to source, hire and connect with the most qualified and highly-skilled technology professionals, while professionals use our websites and services to find ideal employment opportunities, relevant job advice and tailored career-related data. For over 25 years, we have built our Company on providing employers and professionals with career connections, news, tools and information. Today, we serve multiple markets in North America, Europe, the Middle East and the Asia Pacific region. Find out more at www.dhigroupinc.com.
Media Contact
Kristianna Sanders
dicemedia@dice.com
303-562-0337