Software developer salaries are growing fast in Utah, economist says
Aug 23, 2024, 7:00 PM
FILE - Google logos are shown when searched on Google in New York, Sept. 11, 2023. Google on Monday, Nov. 6, will try to protect a lucrative piece of its internet empire at the same time it’s still entangled in the biggest U.S. antitrust trial in a quarter century. The latest threat will unfold in a San Francisco federal court, where a 10-person jury will decide whether Google's digital payment processing system in the Play Store that distributes apps for phones running on its Android software has been illegally driving up prices for consumers and developers. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS
(AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
SALT LAKE CITY — It’s a good time to be a software developer in the state, according to one economist. Software developer salaries in Utah are among the highest in the nation.
They are rising fast in the Salt Lake metropolitan area and are higher than they are in much bigger cities.
Levi Pace, an economist with the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, studies Utah’s tech economy. He said Utah has a thriving tech industry and more software developers than the national average.
He also said that software developer salaries range anywhere between $65,000 and $172,000.
Not only are software developer salaries high, but they are also growing fast. Pace said the median salary rose from $97,200 five years ago, to almost $116,000 in 2023.
However, not all tech salaries are rising at that rate, which is showing signs of leveling. There was a bit of a frenzy during the pandemic where software developers were able to name their prices when it came to salaries.
Software developers now rank second in the U.S. Department of Labor’s list of occupations, with the highest projected job growth over the next decade.
