In our increasingly digital age, the need for web developers is only growing. These jobs build websites and applications that perform reliably for both owners and users. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects that overall employment of web developers and digital designers will grow 16% from 2022 to 2032, anticipating roughly 19,000 job openings per year each year of that decade. It’s also a well-paying job, with an average median pay of $92,750 per year, according to BLS.
“It’s a fantastic field, just because of how transferable the skills are,” says Lydia Tse, a software engineer at Google and adjunct lecturer at Northwestern University. “Every single role that I have had has used web development skills in some way. Additionally, there’s a lot of demand.”
For those who are interested in pursuing web development jobs, here are 10 of the field’s top-paying roles.
Site Reliability Engineer
Companies: LinkedIn, Google, Adobe
Description: Site reliability engineers are responsible for ensuring that software applications run as they are supposed to without causing errors. By combining software engineering and systems administration, this role approaches operations challenges from an engineering perspective. These engineers build self-healing systems that can reliably scale.
“The site reliability engineer is the person who ensures that a website is up and running at all times,” Tse says. “If users can’t access the website, they are the ones that are going to be looking into the issues. These people tend to be on call a lot.”
Average base salary: $148,714, according to Indeed.
Highest-paying cities: Sunnyvale, Calif. ($174,795), San Francisco, Calif. ($171,205), New York, N.Y. ($162,309), according to Indeed.
Python Developer
Companies: Capital One, Fujitsu, Morgan Stanley
Description: Python developers code, design, deploy, and debug development projects using Python, a high-level, general purpose programming language. While many tech jobs use Python extensively, a Python developer has a mastery of the language and is able to use it for tasks like data collection and analytics, web development, database creation, and automation.
Average base salary: $126,233, according to Indeed.
Highest-paying cities: Jersey City, N.J. ($134,124), Houston, Texas ($133,112), Providence, R.I. ($129,710), according to Indeed.
Cloud Computing Professional
Companies: Intel, Cox Communications, Apple
Description: Cloud computing gives companies the ability to maintain large-scale storage without owning large physical servers. Cloud computing professionals—such as cloud engineers, cloud architects, cloud developers, cloud administrators, and cloud security analysts—are responsible for technical aspects involving the maintenance and security of the cloud.
“This person is going to be able to understand how to utilize cloud computing to ensure that their website or web app is scalable,” Tse says. “That means that if a billion users hit a website, that website isn’t going to break because the server doesn’t get overloaded.”
Average base salary: Cloud engineers have an average base salary of $125,434, according to Indeed.
Highest-paying cities: Washington, D.C. ($140,126), St. Louis, Mo. ($127,940), New York, N.Y. ($124,803), for cloud engineers, according to Indeed.
DevOps Engineer
Companies: Capital One, Boeing, Northrop Grumman
Description: Development operations engineers work to improve software development processes by coordinating the teams involved with a product’s creation. This role works with corporations or IT firms to develop code libraries and databases for each new system they create, allowing future employees the ability to use the library to identify what codes represent so they can update the system. They also update and maintain software processes to fix bugs and improve user experience.
“A DevOps engineer is someone who is going to be able to build a pipeline that makes deployment of a website a lot more automated,” Tse says.
Average base salary: $124,893 per year, according to Indeed.
Highest-paying cities: Palo Alto, Calif. ($159,912), San Francisco, Calif. ($152,694), and Herndon, Va. ($148,683), according to Indeed.
Full Stack Developer
Companies: Capital One, Walmart, General Motors
Description: Full stack developers utilize knowledge of front end and back end development to create visual designs and back end coding for websites. These roles can do pretty much anything related to computer programming, including managing servers, creating databases, and assisting with client-facing parts of a project. Because of their ability to assist in any stage of a project, these roles are in high demand.
Average base salary: $124,305, according to Indeed.
Highest-paying cities: San Francisco, Calif. ($150,709), Irving, Texas ($145,274), Atlanta, Ga. ($138,169), according to Indeed.
C++ Developer
Companies: Hitachi, Oracle, Barclays
Description: C++ developers use the high-level, general purpose programming language C++ to create high-performance applications, games, and operating systems. These developers must have a mastery of the language and understand how it can be used in real world applications. Part of their job includes developing and testing procedures on different platforms to guarantee their useability.
Average base salary: $120,947, according to Indeed.
Highest-paying cities: New York, N.Y. ($174,105), Chicago, Ill. ($174,693), Boston, Mass. ($155,302), according to Indeed.
Front End Software Engineer
Companies: Amazon.com, Capital One, GameStop
Description: A front end software engineer designs websites and applications—usually using JavaScript or CSS—to ensure that they can be run by client-side software. Front end software engineers collaborate with designers to create websites that are functional, fast, and beautiful.
“The front end software engineer is going to be really well versed in all things on the front end, understanding not just how to build a website that works, but also understanding why different front end patterns work better,” Tse says.
Average base salary: $114,127, according to Indeed.
Highest-paying cities: Minneapolis, Minn. ($150,621), Columbus, Ohio ($137,477), Seattle, Wash. ($134,489), according to Indeed.
Ruby Developer
Companies: Apple, eBay, Walmart
Description: Ruby on Rails is a server-side web app framework that’s used to develop web applications and application programming interfaces (APIs). A Ruby developer is a back end software developer who generates the database, libraries, and logic of an application. These developers use Ruby on Rails and other programming frameworks and languages to make scalable applications.
Average base salary: $114,033, according to Indeed.
Highest-paying cities: San Francisco, Calif. ($169,008), Boston, Mass. ($154,296), Chicago, Ill. ($146,551), according to Indeed.
App Developer
Companies: American Airlines, Wells Fargo, PwC
Description: App developers specialize in creating applications for mobile devices. They usually work in multidisciplinary teams to ensure that the final product meets standards of performance, functionality, and usability. They usually possess expertise in user interface design principles, a strong understanding of operating systems and mobile platforms, and a mastery of computer programming languages like Java.
Average base salary: $91,532, according to Indeed.
Highest-paying cities: Santa Clara, Calif. ($122,287), San Jose, Calif. ($119,590), Boston, Mass. ($117,931), according to Indeed.
HTML Developer
Companies: Boeing, Amazon.com, General Dynamics Information Technology
Description: HTML developers have a mastery of coding knowledge and the ability to craft websites for various client or business needs. Sometimes called a web developer, this role includes managing web projects, developing apps, constructing websites, providing technical support, and performing quality tests. Knowledge and experience with coding languages like HTML and CSS is essential for this role.
“This person is mainly going to be focused on the look and feel of a website,” Tse says.
Average base salary: $79,615, according to Indeed.
Highest-paying cities: Seattle, Wash. ($136,965), Chicago, Ill. ($103,524), Denver, Colo. ($101,626), according to Indeed.
The takeaway
These days, every business needs a website, ensuring that we should expect continued growth in this field for quite some time. If you’re just starting out in web development, Tse recommends getting comfortable with React, a free and open-source front-end JavaScript library.
“Just start off by building your own personal project,” Tse says. “It doesn’t have to be anything super fancy, but just give it a try.”
