Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2005

15-1021 Computer Programmers

Convert project specifications and statements of problems and procedures to detailed logical flow charts for coding into computer language. Develop and write computer programs to store, locate, and retrieve specific documents, data, and information. May program web sites.

National estimates for this occupation
Industry profile for this occupation
State profile for this occupation
Metropolitan area profile for this occupation

National estimates for this occupation: Top

Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for this occupation:

Employment (1) Employment
RSE (3)
Mean hourly
wage
Mean annual
wage (2)
Wage RSE (3)
389,090 1.2 % $32.40 $67,400 0.7 %

Percentile wage estimates for this occupation:

Percentile 10% 25% 50%
(Median)
75% 90%
Hourly Wage $17.97 $23.10 $30.49 $39.71 $49.93
Annual Wage (2) $37,380 $48,040 $63,420 $82,600 $103,850

Industry profile for this occupation: Top

Industries with the highest published employment and wages for this occupation are provided. For a list of all industries with employment in this occupation, see the Create Customized Tables function.

Industries with the highest levels of employment in this occupation:

Industry Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage
Computer systems design and related services 114,580 $33.93 $70,570
Software publishers 18,350 $37.22 $77,420
Management of companies and enterprises 16,710 $31.47 $65,460
Insurance carriers 15,980 $32.14 $66,850
Employment services 13,060 $37.30 $77,580

Top paying industries for this occupation:

Industry Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage
Computer and peripheral equipment mfg. 3,680 $44.52 $92,600
Satellite telecommunications 50 $42.41 $88,220
Bakeries and tortilla manufacturing 40 $39.49 $82,140
Postal service 90 $37.72 $78,460
Employment services 13,060 $37.30 $77,580

State profile for this occupation: Top

States with the highest published employment concentrations and wages for this occupation are provided. For a list of all States with employment in this occupation, see the Create Customized Tables function.

States with the highest concentration of workers in this occupation:

State Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Percent of State employment
Utah 5,760 $30.78 $64,010 0.524%
New Jersey 19,640 $38.41 $79,880 0.501%
District of Columbia 2,910 $31.48 $65,480 0.476%
Virginia 16,400 $32.39 $67,370 0.464%
Washington 11,760 $40.19 $83,590 0.443%

Top paying States for this occupation:

State Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Percent of State employment
Washington 11,760 $40.19 $83,590 0.443%
Massachusetts 11,170 $38.73 $80,550 0.355%
New Jersey 19,640 $38.41 $79,880 0.501%
California 35,330 $36.11 $75,100 0.240%
Texas 30,840 $35.19 $73,190 0.327%

Metropolitan area profile for this occupation: Top

Metropolitan areas with the highest published employment concentrations and wages for this occupation are provided. For a list of all Metropolitan areas with employment in this occupation, see the Create Customized Tables function.

Metropolitan areas with the highest concentration of workers in this occupation:

MSA Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Percent of MSA employment
Jefferson City, MO 890 $31.33 $65,160 1.203%
Carson City, NV 250 $30.76 $63,990 0.798%
Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY 3,350 $28.07 $58,380 0.776%
Huntsville, AL 1,440 $38.05 $79,150 0.756%
Bloomington, IN 540 $24.05 $50,030 0.729%

Top paying Metropolitan areas for this occupation:

MSA Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Percent of MSA employment
Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown, NY 800 $47.14 $98,050 0.323%
Haverhill-North Andover-Amesbury, MA-NH NECTA Division (8) $44.82 $93,230 (8)
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA 5,460 $43.69 $90,880 0.630%
Newark-Union, NJ-PA Metropolitan Division 4,760 $41.85 $87,040 0.479%
San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, CA Metropolitan Division 3,340 $41.65 $86,630 0.351%

About May 2005 National, State, and Metropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

These estimates are calculated with data collected from employers in all industry sectors in metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas in every State and the District of Columbia. The top five employment and wage figures are provided above. The complete list is available in the downloadable Excel files (XLS).

Percentile wage estimates show the percentage of workers in an occupation that earn less than a given wage and the percentage that earn more. The median wage is the 50th percentile wage estimate—50 percent of workers earn less than the median and 50 percent of workers earn more than the median. More about percentile wages.


(1) Estimates for detailed occupations do not sum to the totals because the totals include occupations not shown separately. Estimates do not include self-employed workers.

(2) Annual wages have been calculated by multiplying the hourly mean wage by a "year-round, full-time" hours figure of 2,080 hours; for those occupations where there is not an hourly mean wage published, the annual wage has been directly calculated from the reported survey data.

(3) The relative standard error (RSE) is a measure of the reliability of a survey statistic. The smaller the relative standard error, the more precise the estimate.

(8) Estimate not released.

Other OES estimates and related information:

May 2005 National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

May 2005 State Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

May 2005 Metropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

May 2005 National Industry-Specific Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

List of Occupations in SOC Code Number Order

List of Occupations in Alphabetical Order

Download May 2005 Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates in Zipped Excel files

Technical notes

 

Last Modified Date: May 24, 2006