How Much Contract Tech Workers Get Paid In Cities Around the US

This reflects shortages of key skills and in specific geographic locations. Apologies for the poor viewing definition on the chart. The original can be seen on the article at the Re/code site. JL

Rani Molla reports in Re/code:

Freelance tech workers in the U.S. get paid $24,918 more a year  than full-time workers ($147,680 compared to $122,762 gross income). Annual pay for contract tech workers is highest in the Bay Area, where contract engineers make $224,000 a year, and contract designers make $183,000. Engineers (which include Android or iOS developer, back-end engineer, Java software engineer, PHP software engineer and solution architect) are paid more than designers (including UX designer, UI engineer, product designer and graphic designer).

Demand for contract tech workers is growing, according to data released today by Hired, a tech-job website. Some 13 percent of companies on the platform are interested in hiring contractors — an all-time high — up from 4 percent two years ago.

These workers also get paid more than their full-time counterparts.

Freelance tech workers in the U.S. who work 40-hour weeks get paid $24,918 more a year on average than full-time workers ($147,680 compared to $122,762 gross income), according to the report, which mined data from 175,000 interview requests and job offers that occurred on the site in the past year. Of course, contract workers forgo health insurance and other benefits associated with salaried employment in exchange for more flexible work.

Annual pay also varied heavily by a contractor’s skill set and location.

Nationally, engineering managers and mobile engineers are both the most in-demand skill sets and the most highly paid, making $245,440 and $205,920 a year respectively.

Unsurprisingly, annual pay for contract tech workers is highest in the Bay Area, where contract engineers make $224,000 a year on average, and contract designers make $183,000 (if they work 40-hour weeks all year). A tech worker’s salary, however, might go further in smaller cities. In most cities, engineers (which can include Android or iOS developer, back-end engineer, Java software engineer, PHP software engineer and solution architect, among others) are paid more than designers (including jobs like UX designer, UI engineer, product designer and graphic designer). That’s flipped in Washington, D.C., Seattle and San Diego, likely because of labor shortages or increased demand.