Skip the navigation

Top-paying industries for IT

Compare IT salaries across a sampling of industries and job titles.

April 9, 2012 06:00 AM ET

Computerworld - Some IT professionals fared significantly better than others this year based solely on the industry in which they work. In Computerworld's 2012 Salary Survey, the top five industries for IT pay were retail trade (overall compensation up 4.0%), mining/construction/
engineering (up 3.3%), computer-related manufacturing (up 3.2%), computer services/consulting (up 2.6%) and energy/utilities (up 2.3%).

IT workers in the government sector experienced the smallest gain in the past year, with a increase in total compensation of just 0.2%.

The top industries for bonuses were automotive, with an average 10.8% increase in bonuses, followed by retail at 9% and hospitality/travel at 8.8%.

The largest average decreases in bonus payments were in legal/insurance/real estate (-14.4%), finance/accounting (-7.2%), noncomputer business services/consulting (-5.2%), telecommunications
(-5.0%) and biotech/pharmaceuticals (-3.9%).

Here's a sampling of IT job titles and industries, and corresponding pay for each:

COMPUTER SERVICES/CONSULTING

  • Project manager: $120,248
  • Software engineer: $103,643
  • Systems architect*: $103,106
  • IT manager*: $102,771
  • Systems administrator*: $74,383
  • Help desk/tech support specialist: $58,811

EDUCATION

  • CIO/vice president of IT*: $132,561
  • Director of IT: $84,105
  • IT manager: $81,908
  • Network administrator*: $58,799
  • Systems administrator*: $58,413
  • Help desk/tech support specialist: $42,836

GOVERNMENT

  • Director of IT: $111,448
  • CIO/vice president of IT*: $106,287
  • Project manager*: $102,147
  • IT manager: $91,855
  • Network engineer*: $88,162
  • Help desk/tech support specialist*: $59,193

HEALTHCARE

  • CIO/vice president of IT*: $196,540
  • Director of IT: $124,232
  • IT manager: $94,100
  • Systems administrator*: $77,473
  • Systems analyst*: $73,525
  • Help desk/tech support specialist*: $54,701

LEGAL & INSURANCE

  • CIO/vice president of IT*: $194,515
  • Director of IT*: $158,016
  • IT manager*: $98,677
  • Technology/business systems analyst*: $94,881
  • Systems administrator*: $81,011
  • Programmer/analyst*: $80,524

MANUFACTURING

  • CIO/vice president of IT*: $181,444
  • Director of IT: $130,043
  • Project manager*: $113,652
  • IT manager: $96,606
  • Network administrator*: $65,386
  • Help desk/tech support specialist*: $64,771

* More than 15 responses but fewer than 30

Next: Salary Survey 2012: View the full report

IT Salaries 2012

Read more about Government/Industries in Computerworld's Government/Industries Topic Center.