The Dice Tech Salary Report
2023 EDITION
Executive Summary
Welcome to the 18th edition of the Dice Tech Salary Report, your source for data on average technology professional salaries across the U.S. As with prior years, you’ll be able to compare salaries using a range of indicators, including by location, occupation and skill — and dig into other benefits that matter to technology professionals today.
2022 was a year of massive change in tech, as most of the biggest names in the space endured some level of tightening, with many announcing layoffs, stricter performance management or hiring freezes between July and the end of the year. By the end of 2022, the layoffs throughout tech (which included professionals of many types, not just tech professionals) totaled more than 140,000. Paired with the strong possibility of a recession in 2023, the environment would not seem conducive to technology professionals looking for work.
And yet, the tech unemployment rate dropped to 1.5% in January, and demand for tech talent remained historically strong throughout the year, especially in more established industries like finance and banking, healthcare, consulting and aerospace and defense. This contrast between a rapid contraction in Big Tech and continued digitization initiatives across key industries sets the stage for an incredibly interesting year for tech hiring and retention in 2023.
The average tech salary is once again over the six-figure mark; this continued growth in salaries in specific regions across the country and for a wide range of different tech-focused roles and specialized tech skills shows tech professionals continue to command above-average compensation. Even an overall dip in hiring caused by a recession would not necessarily have an impact on core tech roles, given the importance of these skill sets in running company operations, securing critical data and continuing digital transformation efforts.
If the recent COVID-fueled recession is any indicator, tech occupations are well-positioned to avoid the worst of the impacts, and organizations everywhere are now even more tech-dependent due to the forced move to remote work and acceleration of digitization. Executives in a study from McKinsey reported that, on average, the pandemic accelerated the digitalization of their customer and supply chain interactions and of internal operations by three to four years, and development of digital or digitally enabled products by seven years.
The impact of these shifts over the past few years can be seen throughout this year’s report in areas like the top regions for tech salary growth, the occupations rising to the top of the list in both salary level and growth, and the continued increases in compensation for data- and security-related skills. In addition, while it's not surprising that the average overall tech salary stabilized with a somewhat smaller increase after years of major growth, it could represent an issue for organizations in technology professional compensation given the continued higher-inflation environment and the attractive packages many are used to receiving (corroborated by an increase in salary dissatisfaction among tech professionals this year).
Get the Key Takeaways from this year's Tech Salary Report here.
Methodology
Collection of Data
The 2022 Dice Salary Survey was administered online by Dice.com among its registered Dice job seekers and site visitors between August 16, 2022 and October 17, 2022. Respondents were invited to participate in the survey in two ways: 1) via an email invitation to Dice’s registered (searchable) database members and 2) through a notification via website banner on Dice.com user profile page. A total of 7,098 completed surveys are represented in this report (this number excludes unemployed respondents, students, incomplete responses and those who work outside of the U.S.).
Analysis
Based on our organizational focus of delivering information specific to technology professionals, we narrowed our analysis this year to only report on core technical job functions based on self-reported data. This same adjustment was made to the 2021 dataset.
We believe the change in analysis allows for additional clarity in salary and compensation trends for technology professionals, and will help ensure that the Tech Salary Report brings strong value to you and your organization moving forward.
Data Weighting
In each year of the survey, the data are reviewed to assess the need for data weighting to ensure that the overall data properly reflect the universe of Dice.com job seekers. Examination of the data from 2022 showed a weighted data adjustment was needed for two variables — gender and age. The impact on the mean salary results from the weighting for the 2022 data increased the average salary by +$3,494.
Job Posting Data
Job posting data was gathered by Dice’s partner, Lightcast (formerly Emsi Burning Glass), which has a database of more than 1 billion current and historical job postings worldwide. Data was used from Lightcast to complete city, occupation and skill callouts.
Key Takeaways
The average tech salary continues upward trend.
Following a year of strong growth in 2021, the average tech salary increased 2.3% in 2022 to $111,348. Tech professionals still command high compensation, which can be even more challenging for organizations in a tighter economic environment. Technology professionals and the skill sets they offer have become indispensable to organizations' core business needs, from running company operations to securing data to continuing digital transformation efforts.
Tech professionals are more dissatisfied with their salaries year-over-year.
Respondents indicated greater dissatisfaction with their salary compared to 2021, with nearly half (49%) believing they are underpaid. Combined with the 52% who are likely to change employers within the next year, you have a double-edged sword for organizations: more skilled tech talent is available, but retention will be even more difficult. Expressing appreciation and value to tech professionals remains a key to retention, across all industries and roles.
Tech professionals are seeking better work-life balance through benefits.
Employers that can offer tech professionals remote and flexible work schedules, as well as encourage them to take their allotted vacation days, will continue to win talent. Forty-five percent of tech professionals said they planned on using all their vacation days in 2022, up from 39% in 2021. And in addition to ranking remote work and flexible work schedule options as critically important non-traditional benefits, there was a significant year-over-year increase in how tech professionals ranked the importance of wellness programs as a benefit (49% in 2021 to 58% in 2022).
Data-related tech skills demand higher pay with growing salaries.
Earning some of the highest tech salaries this year were data-related tech skills such as Elasticsearch ($143,619), Apache Kafka ($142,764), Teradata ($141,515) and Redis ($140,290). For organizations that need highly specialized tech professionals, such talent will continue to come at a premium; the expense is likely to be worth it, however, considering how important things like data management and security have become to the success of most organizations.
The average tech salary continues upward trend.
Following a year of strong growth in 2021, the average tech salary increased 2.3% in 2022 to $111,348. Tech professionals still command high compensation, which can be even more challenging for organizations in a tighter economic environment. Technology professionals and the skill sets they offer have become indispensable to organizations' core business needs, from running company operations to securing data to continuing digital transformation efforts.
Tech professionals are more dissatisfied with their salaries year-over-year.
Respondents indicated greater dissatisfaction with their salary compared to 2021, with nearly half (49%) believing they are underpaid. Combined with the 52% who are likely to change employers within the next year, you have a double-edged sword for organizations: more skilled tech talent is available, but retention will be even more difficult. Expressing appreciation and value to tech professionals remains a key to retention, across all industries and roles.
Tech professionals are seeking better work-life balance through benefits.
Employers that can offer tech professionals remote and flexible work schedules, as well as encourage them to take their allotted vacation days, will continue to win talent. Forty-five percent of tech professionals said they planned on using all their vacation days in 2022, up from 39% in 2021. And in addition to ranking remote work and flexible work schedule options as critically important non-traditional benefits, there was a significant year-over-year increase in how tech professionals ranked the importance of wellness programs as a benefit (49% in 2021 to 58% in 2022).
Data-related tech skills demand higher pay with growing salaries.
Earning some of the highest tech salaries this year were data-related tech skills such as Elasticsearch ($143,619), Apache Kafka ($142,764), Teradata ($141,515) and Redis ($140,290). For organizations that need highly specialized tech professionals, such talent will continue to come at a premium; the expense is likely to be worth it, however, considering how important things like data management and security have become to the success of most organizations.