Introduction to the Highest Paying Careers in Computer Science
Due to growing demand, the field of Computer Science is on the rise, and with it their salary. Technology has brought many changes to the world in which we live. Our lives have become strongly cohered with computers. We can see most people use mobile phones, the internet, social networking sites, cloud storage, even our wallets have become electronic. The evolution of the computer and networks have affected almost every industry. Compared to many traditional jobs, computer related careers are very new and they are constantly changing. This causes those who choose to follow this path to always need to learn new things. Fortunately, the salary pays well for your efforts (1).
According to the University of Utah’s Career and Professional Development Center, the regional average salary for someone with a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science is $76,626 (1). In other words, you have the chance get a very high paying job when you first graduate from college. That fact alone will probably attract many people to choose these jobs in the future. But before making this your goal, we need to understand what they do. As stated by the United State Department of Labor, the three highest paying careers in the computer field are: number one, System Software Developers, number two, Applications Software Developers, and number three, Computer and Information Research Scientists (2). We will talk about each of these jobs and the salary you can expect if you decide to pursue them.
The highest paying career for a Computer Science major as reported by Salt Lake City Community College’s Career Coach is Software Developers, Systems Software. In Utah, the salary is from $62k to $152k with a normal pay at $98k (3). Software developers are split into two groups: systems software developers and applications software developers, which we will talk about next. System software developers work on the operating systems that make computers run. This can be the system in your phone, your TV, your computer or even your car. They develop new software as well as test and fix any issues in existing software. They lay the groundwork for applications software developers. Developers work closely with programmers though in many companies they also will write the code themselves.
Second is Applications Software Developers. Their salary ranges from $52k to $144k and the normal pay is $93k (4). Application software developers are very similar to system software developers but they are focused on the software for specific applications. These include games, databases, word processors, and spreadsheets. They will develop applications, test them and fix errors (5). When given a task, application software developers identify the ideas and concepts needed to create flow charts so that every step of the application works smoothly.
The third highest paying career is Computer and Information Research Scientists. The starting salary is $54k and can go as high as $123k (6). The normal expected pay is around $88k. But most of the higher paying jobs require a Ph.D. degree in computer science or a related field. Their job is to find more efficient ways for computers to work. They improve, design or test systems to make them better. Computer Information and Research Scientists work in many fields. For example, they work with NASA to design robots to be used in outer space. They also work in medical, military, business, machine learning systems and cloud computing (7).
Generally speaking, the computer field is growing larger and stronger. This area still has a lot of information that still needs to be discovered. Because of this, there is a lot of money to be made in this field. Whether you decide to choose one of these three careers or another one related to computers, a major in Computer Science can give you a high paying career. However, the best reason to choose a job is not how much money you can make. Make sure you understand what the career requirements are so that you will be happy in your job.