2005 Salary Survey Snapshots: Contractors and Consultants
Consultants & Contractors: By the Numbers

Base: 689
The average annual hourly rate in 2005: $61.00 per hour (base: 484)
The average annual base salary in 2005: $85,904 (base: 206)
49% saw no change in their base salary or hourly rate from one year ago
15% said their salary or hourly rate has decreased from one year ago, on average by 19%
36% said their salary or hourly rate has increased from one year ago, on average by 20%
Areas of Specialization
Software design/development 21%
Project management 18%
Network administration 12%
Information systems design 9%
Database development 6%
ERP implementation 5%
Data warehouse/data mining 4%
Quality assurance 3%
E-commerce 2%
Hardware development 2%
CRM implementation 1%
Other 18%
Doesn't total 100% because of rounding.
What They Do
IT contractor/independent contractor 18%
Senior IT contractor/full-time employee of contracting firm 17%
Senior consultant 13%
Staff IT contractor/full-time employee of contracting firm 10%
Project manager 10%
Analyst 7%
Director 5%
Staff consultant 4%
Partner/vice president 3%
Manager 3%
Practice manager 1%
Package integration/implementation specialist 1%
Other contractor/consultant-level title 10%
Doesn't total 100% because of rounding.
What They're Paid
The average annual hourly rate in 2005 is $61.
Less than $10 per hour 0.2%
$10 to less than $20 per hour 7%
$20 to less than $30 per hour 10%
$30 to less than $40 per hour 13%
$40 to less than $50 per hour 15%
$50 to less than $60 per hour 15%
$60 to less than $70 per hour 11%
$70 to less than $80 per hour 8%
$80 to less than $90 per hour 4%
$90 to less than $100 per hour 3%
$100 to less than $125 per hour 5%
$125 to less than $150 per hour 3%
$150 to less than $200 per hour 3%
$200 to $250 per hour 3%
Doesn't total 100% because of rounding.
Base: 484
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- Salary Survey Methodology
- Sidebar: Who They Are
- Leaving a Mark
- Opinion: Spark Your Salary
- Salary Survey Blog: Johanna Rothman
- Opinion: The Meaning of Money
- Senior Management IT Salaries
- Middle Management IT Salaries
- Staff and Entry-Level IT Salaries
- Sampling of Other Titles
- Compensation by Region
- Salary Survey: Interactive Smart Salary Tool 2005
- 2005 Salary Survey Snapshots: Contractors and Consultants
- 2005 Salary Survey Snapshots
- Write Your Own Salary Ticket
- Salary Survey 2005 - Data Points
Additional Resources



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