Highest paying tech careers in the US
Ranked by the typical pay shown on each career's own page, so the order here cannot disagree with the pages it links to. Typical means the middle: half earn more, half earn less. Starting pay is lower, and each career page shows the full range and what it takes to get there.
20 careers in the United States
Ranked by typical pay
201IT Project ManagerYou do not write the code. You make sure the right thing gets built, on time, by people who do not report to you.Typical pay$175kTo qualify4 to 8 yrsDemandVery high2Product ManagerDecide what a product should do next, then get engineers, designers and the business to agree.Typical pay$167kTo qualify4 to 8 yrsDemandGood3Machine Learning EngineerBuild the systems that learn from data, and keep them running once real people use them.Typical pay$140kTo qualify4 to 6 yrsDemandVery high4DevOps EngineerBuild the pipes and servers other programmers ship on. Nobody starts here, everybody arrives here.Typical pay$136kTo qualify4 to 8 yrsDemandVery high5Game DeveloperBuild the thing you grew up playing. Great work, hard industry, and a portfolio matters more than a diploma.Typical pay$136kTo qualify2 to 4 yrsDemandModerate6Mobile App DeveloperBuild the software people carry in their pocket, ship it to an app store, then keep fixing it on devices you have never held.Typical pay$136kTo qualify1 to 4 yrsDemandVery high7Software DeveloperYou write the thing, then spend most of your time working out why it does not do what you meant.Typical pay$136kTo qualify2 to 4 yrsDemandVery high8Cloud EngineerBuild and run the servers, networks and storage that other people's apps live on, without ever touching a physical machine.Typical pay$134kTo qualify2 to 4 yrsDemandVery high9Cybersecurity AnalystWatch a network for attacks and shut them down. Certifications count as much as a degree here.Typical pay$129kTo qualify2 to 5 yrsDemandVery high10Penetration TesterYou break into computer systems on purpose, with written permission, and then explain exactly how you did it.Typical pay$129kTo qualify1 to 4 yrsDemandVery high11Data AnalystTurn a company's messy data into answers people can act on. The most reachable job in the data field.Typical pay$120kTo qualify2 to 4 yrsDemandVery high12Data ScientistTurn messy company data into numbers a boss can act on, using code and statistics.Typical pay$120kTo qualify4 to 6 yrsDemandVery high13Database AdministratorKeep a company's data fast, backed up and locked down, so nobody ever notices it.Typical pay$105kTo qualify2 to 5 yrsDemandLimited14Software TesterYou try to break things before customers do, then prove exactly how you broke them.Typical pay$104kTo qualify2 to 4 yrsDemandGood15UX DesignerDecide how an app or a website actually works. UX (user experience) design is well paid and nobody licenses it.Typical pay$104kTo qualify2 to 4 yrsDemandVery high16Business AnalystWork out what a company actually needs, then write it down clearly enough to build.Typical pay$102kTo qualify4 to 6 yrsDemandVery high17Network AdministratorKeep the network, the servers and the Wi-Fi running so everyone else can work. Two years of college and a certification or two get you in.Typical pay$99kTo qualify2 to 4 yrsDemandLimited18Systems AdministratorKeep the servers, accounts and backups running so everyone else can do their job. Certifications count as much as a degree.Typical pay$99kTo qualify1 to 4 yrsDemandLimited19Web DeveloperBuild the websites and web apps people actually use. The tech job with the shortest distance between learning something and being paid for it.Typical pay$93kTo qualifyup to 4 yrsDemandVery high20IT Support TechnicianThe fastest way into tech without a degree, and the job most people in tech started in.Typical pay$62kTo qualifyup to 2 yrsDemandLimited