Occupational Employment and Wages, 2002

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)
457,320 1.3 % $30.62 $63,690 0.6 %

Percentile wage estimates for this occupation:

Percentile 10% 25% 50%
(Median)
75% 90%
Hourly Wage $16.87 $22.10 $28.98 $37.57 $46.57
Annual Wage (2) $35,080 $45,960 $60,290 $78,140 $96,860

Industry profile for this occupation: Top

Industries with the highest levels of employment in this occupation:

Industry Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Employment rank Wage rank
Computer systems design and related services 119,700 $33.58 $69,850 1 14
Management of companies and enterprises 24,700 $29.02 $60,370 2 69
Commercial equip. merchant wholesalers 22,250 $34.63 $72,040 3 8
Software publishers 20,870 $32.56 $67,720 4 24
Data processing and related services 19,960 $29.50 $61,360 5 59

Top paying industries for this occupation:

Industry Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Employment rank Wage rank
Utility system construction (6) $42.94 $89,320 (6) 1
Used merchandise stores 40 $36.39 $75,690 228 2
Office administrative services 3,200 $35.51 $73,870 28 3
Consumer goods rental 120 $35.23 $73,290 174 4
Securities and commodity contracts brokerage 4,870 $35.19 $73,200 18 5

State profile for this occupation: Top

States with the highest concentration of workers in this occupation:

State Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Percent of State employment Wage rank within State
New Jersey 27,940 $32.37 $67,340 0.724% 97
Virginia 21,450 $29.88 $62,140 0.633% 82
District of Columbia 3,430 $31.09 $64,670 0.576% 78
Maryland 12,270 $29.70 $61,770 0.505% 86
Washington 12,550 $37.64 $78,290 0.489% 35

Top paying States for this occupation:

State Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Percent of State employment Wage rank within State
Washington 12,550 $37.64 $78,290 0.489% 35
California 51,930 $34.49 $71,750 0.359% 74
Delaware 1,940 $34.46 $71,680 0.483% 39
Texas 38,510 $33.42 $69,510 0.419% 50
Massachusetts 12,900 $33.39 $69,450 0.403% 65

Metropolitan area profile for this occupation: Top

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

MSA Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Percent of MSA employment
Olympia, WA PMSA 1,020 $27.07 $56,300 1.197%
Boulder-Longmont, CO PMSA 1,790 $33.55 $69,790 1.127%
Trenton, NJ PMSA 2,300 $30.64 $63,730 1.108%
San Jose, CA PMSA 9,570 $37.35 $77,690 1.072%
Columbus, GA-AL MSA 1,200 $25.05 $52,110 1.056%

Top paying Metropolitan areas for this occupation:

MSA Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage Percent of MSA employment
Jacksonville, FL MSA 2,880 $42.08 $87,530 0.533%
Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA PMSA 9,860 $40.21 $83,630 0.760%
New London-Norwich, CT-RI MSA 350 $38.64 $80,370 0.246%
San Francisco, CA PMSA (6) $37.78 $78,570 (6)
Houston, TX PMSA 7,050 $37.78 $78,570 0.344%

About 2002 National, State, and Metropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

To see profiles of other occupations, select from the major groups below:

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) Data for detailed occupations does not sum to the totals because the totals include data for 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.

(6) Estimates not released.

All Computer and Mathematical Science Occupations

2002 State Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

2002 Metropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

2002 National Industry-Specific Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

List of Occupations in SOC Code Number Order

List of Occupations in Alphabetical Order

Download 2002 Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates in Zipped Excel files

Technical notes

 

Last Modified Date: November 26, 2003