Information Technology Project Managers

The occupation code you requested, 15-1199.09 (Information Technology Project Managers), is no longer in use. In the future, please use 15-1299.09 (Information Technology Project Managers) instead.

Plan, initiate, and manage information technology (IT) projects. Lead and guide the work of technical staff. Serve as liaison between business and technical aspects of projects. Plan project stages and assess business implications for each stage. Monitor progress to assure deadlines, standards, and cost targets are met.

Sample of reported job titles: Cloud Product Director, Cybersecurity Project Manager, Data Center Product Director, Information Systems Project Manager (IS Project Manager), IT Manager (Information Technology Manager), IT Program Manager (Information Technology Program Manager), IT Project Manager (Information Technology Project Manager), Scrum Master, Transition Program Manager

Occupation-Specific Information

Tasks

  • Manage project execution to ensure adherence to budget, schedule, and scope.
  • Confer with project personnel to identify and resolve problems.
  • Monitor or track project milestones and deliverables.
  • Submit project deliverables, ensuring adherence to quality standards.
  • Assess current or future customer needs and priorities by communicating directly with customers, conducting surveys, or other methods.
  • Initiate, review, or approve modifications to project plans.
  • Schedule and facilitate meetings related to information technology projects.
  • Direct or coordinate activities of project personnel.
  • Develop implementation plans that include analyses such as cost-benefit or return on investment (ROI).
  • Identify need for initial or supplemental project resources.
  • Develop or update project plans for information technology projects including information such as project objectives, technologies, systems, information specifications, schedules, funding, and staffing.
  • Perform risk assessments to develop response strategies.
  • Prepare project status reports by collecting, analyzing, and summarizing information and trends.
  • Identify, review, or select vendors or consultants to meet project needs.
  • Develop and manage annual budgets for information technology projects.
  • Establish and execute a project communication plan.
  • Develop and manage work breakdown structure (WBS) of information technology projects.
  • Monitor the performance of project team members, providing and documenting performance feedback.
  • Coordinate recruitment or selection of project personnel.
  • Assign duties, responsibilities, and spans of authority to project personnel.
  • Negotiate with project stakeholders or suppliers to obtain resources or materials.

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Technology Skills

  • Access software — Citrix cloud computing software
  • Accounting software — Tax software
  • Analytical or scientific software — IBM SPSS Statistics Hot technology ; Minitab; SAS Hot technology ; The MathWorks MATLAB Hot technology ; 1 more
  • Application server software — Docker Hot technology ; GitHub Hot technology ; Red Hat OpenShift Hot technology ; Spring Boot Hot technology ; 3 more
  • Backup or archival software — Veritas NetBackup
  • Business intelligence and data analysis software — Apache Spark Hot technology ; IBM Cognos Impromptu; Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition; Tableau Hot technology ; 2 more
  • Calendar and scheduling software — Scheduling software
  • Cloud-based data access and sharing software — Google Drive; Microsoft SharePoint Hot technology ; Slack Hot technology ; Wrike; 1 more
  • Cloud-based management software — IBM WebSphere; IBM WebSphere MQ; Splunk Enterprise Hot technology
  • Clustering software — VMware
  • Communications server software — IBM Domino
  • Computer aided design CAD software — Autodesk AutoCAD Hot technology ; Autodesk Revit Hot technology ; Dassault Systemes CATIA
  • Computer based training software — Blackboard software; Edulastic
  • Configuration management software — Chef Hot technology ; IBM Software Configuration and Library Manager SCLM; Perforce Helix software; Puppet Hot technology
  • Customer relationship management CRM software — Blackbaud The Raiser's Edge; Oracle Eloqua; Salesforce software Hot technology
  • Data base management system software — Amazon DynamoDB Hot technology ; Apache Hive Hot technology ; Elasticsearch Hot technology ; Oracle PL/SQL Hot technology ; 10 more
  • Data base reporting software — Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services SSRS Hot technology ; SAP Crystal Reports
  • Data base user interface and query software — Airtable; Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud EC2 Hot technology ; IBM DB2 Hot technology ; Transact-SQL Hot technology ; 20 more
  • Data mining software — Google Analytics Hot technology
  • Desktop communications software — Skype
  • Desktop publishing software — Adobe InDesign Hot technology ; Microsoft Publisher
  • Development environment software — Apache Kafka Hot technology ; Apache Maven Hot technology ; Microsoft Team Foundation Server Hot technology ; Oracle Java 2 Platform Enterprise Edition J2EE Hot technology ; 31 more
  • Document management software — Adobe Acrobat Hot technology ; Document management system software; O3spaces Workplace
  • Electronic mail software — IBM Notes; Microsoft Exchange; Microsoft Outlook Hot technology
  • Enterprise application integration software — Atlassian Bamboo Hot technology ; Extensible markup language XML Hot technology ; IBM InfoSphere DataStage; Microsoft SQL Server Integration Services SSIS Hot technology ; 1 more
  • Enterprise resource planning ERP software — Microsoft Dynamics Hot technology ; Oracle JD Edwards EnterpriseOne; Oracle PeopleSoft Hot technology ; SAP software Hot technology ; 12 more
  • Enterprise system management software — IBM Power Systems software; Kforge
  • Expert system software — Ansible software Hot technology
  • File versioning software — Apache Subversion SVN Hot technology ; Continuous integration software; Git Hot technology ; Version control software
  • Financial analysis software — Delphi Technology; Oracle E-Business Suite Financials
  • Geographic information system — ESRI ArcGIS software Hot technology ; Geographic information system GIS software
  • Graphical user interface development software — Salesforce Visualforce
  • Graphics or photo imaging software — Adobe Creative Cloud software Hot technology ; Adobe Illustrator Hot technology ; JamBoard; Trimble SketchUp Pro Hot technology ; 1 more
  • Human resources software — Human resource management software HRMS; Oracle Taleo
  • Industrial control software — Supervisory control and data acquisition SCADA software
  • Information retrieval or search software — LexisNexis
  • Internet protocol IP multimedia subsystem software — Voice over internet protocol VoIP system software
  • Medical software — Epic Systems Hot technology ; Healthcare common procedure coding system HCPCS
  • Metadata management software — Quest Erwin Data Modeler
  • Mobile location based services software — Resource management software
  • Network monitoring software — Nagios; Wireshark
  • Network security or virtual private network VPN management software — Virtual private networking VPN software
  • Object or component oriented development software — jQuery Hot technology ; Objective C Hot technology ; Scala Hot technology ; Swift Hot technology ; 10 more
  • Object oriented data base management software — Hibernate ORM Hot technology ; PostgreSQL Hot technology
  • Office suite software — Microsoft Office software In-Demand Hot technology
  • Operating system software — Bash Hot technology ; Microsoft Windows Server Hot technology ; Shell script Hot technology ; UNIX Shell Hot technology ; 11 more
  • Pattern design software — MatchWare MindView; MindGenius; MPI Micro Planner X-Pert; NovaMind Merlin Project Manager; 1 more
  • Portal server software — Apache HTTP Server
  • Presentation software — Microsoft PowerPoint In-Demand Hot technology
  • Process mapping and design software — Microsoft Visio Hot technology
  • Program testing software — Hewlett Packard LoadRunner; JUnit Hot technology ; Selenium Hot technology
  • Project management software — Atlassian Confluence In-Demand Hot technology ; Atlassian JIRA In-Demand Hot technology ; Microsoft Teams Hot technology ; Oracle Primavera Enterprise Project Portfolio Management Hot technology ; 63 more
  • Requirements analysis and system architecture software — Unified modeling language UML
  • Sales and marketing software — Google Ads; Marketo Marketing Automation Hot technology
  • Spreadsheet software — Microsoft Excel In-Demand Hot technology
  • Transaction security and virus protection software — McAfee; NortonLifeLock cybersecurity software
  • Transaction server software — Customer information control system CICS
  • Video conferencing software — Cisco Webex Hot technology ; Google Meet; LogMeIn GoToMeeting
  • Video creation and editing software — Apple Final Cut Pro; Screencast-O-Matic
  • Web page creation and editing software — Adobe Dreamweaver; Facebook Hot technology
  • Web platform development software — Django Hot technology ; Google Angular Hot technology ; React Hot technology ; Spring Framework Hot technology ; 21 more
  • Word processing software — 3M Post-it App; Google Docs Hot technology ; Microsoft OneNote; Microsoft Word Hot technology
Hot technology
Hot Technologies are requirements most frequently included across all employer job postings.
In demand
In Demand skills are frequently included in employer job postings for this occupation.

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Occupational Requirements

Work Activities

  • Coordinating the Work and Activities of Others — Getting members of a group to work together to accomplish tasks.
  • Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates — Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
  • Getting Information — Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
  • Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work — Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work.
  • Working with Computers — Using computers and computer systems (including hardware and software) to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information.
  • Developing and Building Teams — Encouraging and building mutual trust, respect, and cooperation among team members.
  • Scheduling Work and Activities — Scheduling events, programs, and activities, as well as the work of others.
  • Making Decisions and Solving Problems — Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
  • Monitoring and Controlling Resources — Monitoring and controlling resources and overseeing the spending of money.
  • Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge — Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job.
  • Developing Objectives and Strategies — Establishing long-range objectives and specifying the strategies and actions to achieve them.
  • Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships — Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time.
  • Interpreting the Meaning of Information for Others — Translating or explaining what information means and how it can be used.
  • Guiding, Directing, and Motivating Subordinates — Providing guidance and direction to subordinates, including setting performance standards and monitoring performance.
  • Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events — Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.
  • Resolving Conflicts and Negotiating with Others — Handling complaints, settling disputes, and resolving grievances and conflicts, or otherwise negotiating with others.
  • Documenting/Recording Information — Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.
  • Analyzing Data or Information — Identifying the underlying principles, reasons, or facts of information by breaking down information or data into separate parts.
  • Communicating with People Outside the Organization — Communicating with people outside the organization, representing the organization to customers, the public, government, and other external sources. This information can be exchanged in person, in writing, or by telephone or e-mail.
  • Processing Information — Compiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, or verifying information or data.
  • Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards — Using relevant information and individual judgment to determine whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.
  • Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings — Monitoring and reviewing information from materials, events, or the environment, to detect or assess problems.
  • Estimating the Quantifiable Characteristics of Products, Events, or Information — Estimating sizes, distances, and quantities; or determining time, costs, resources, or materials needed to perform a work activity.
  • Providing Consultation and Advice to Others — Providing guidance and expert advice to management or other groups on technical, systems-, or process-related topics.
  • Coaching and Developing Others — Identifying the developmental needs of others and coaching, mentoring, or otherwise helping others to improve their knowledge or skills.
  • Judging the Qualities of Objects, Services, or People — Assessing the value, importance, or quality of things or people.
  • Thinking Creatively — Developing, designing, or creating new applications, ideas, relationships, systems, or products, including artistic contributions.
  • Performing Administrative Activities — Performing day-to-day administrative tasks such as maintaining information files and processing paperwork.
  • Training and Teaching Others — Identifying the educational needs of others, developing formal educational or training programs or classes, and teaching or instructing others.
  • Selling or Influencing Others — Convincing others to buy merchandise/goods or to otherwise change their minds or actions.
  • Staffing Organizational Units — Recruiting, interviewing, selecting, hiring, and promoting employees in an organization.
  • Assisting and Caring for Others — Providing personal assistance, medical attention, emotional support, or other personal care to others such as coworkers, customers, or patients.

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Detailed Work Activities

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Work Context

  • Electronic Mail — 95% responded “Every day.”
  • Telephone — 80% responded “Every day.”
  • Work With Work Group or Team — 75% responded “Extremely important.”
  • Contact With Others — 57% responded “Constant contact with others.”
  • Indoors, Environmentally Controlled — 75% responded “Every day.”
  • Spend Time Sitting — 50% responded “Continually or almost continually.”
  • Structured versus Unstructured Work — 52% responded “Some freedom.”
  • Face-to-Face Discussions — 60% responded “Every day.”
  • Time Pressure — 52% responded “Every day.”
  • Coordinate or Lead Others — 50% responded “Extremely important.”
  • Duration of Typical Work Week — 60% responded “More than 40 hours.”
  • Freedom to Make Decisions — 62% responded “Some freedom.”
  • Responsibility for Outcomes and Results — 40% responded “Very high responsibility.”
  • Importance of Being Exact or Accurate — 48% responded “Very important.”
  • Level of Competition — 57% responded “Highly competitive.”
  • Impact of Decisions on Co-workers or Company Results — 57% responded “Important results.”
  • Frequency of Conflict Situations — 52% responded “Once a week or more but not every day.”
  • Letters and Memos — 45% responded “Once a week or more but not every day.”
  • Frequency of Decision Making — 40% responded “Once a month or more but not every week.”
  • Deal With External Customers — 52% responded “Very important.”
  • Importance of Repeating Same Tasks — 33% responded “Extremely important.”
  • Public Speaking — 43% responded “Once a week or more but not every day.”
  • Deal With Unpleasant or Angry People — 40% responded “Once a week or more but not every day.”
  • Responsible for Others' Health and Safety — 33% responded “Limited responsibility.”
  • Physical Proximity — 60% responded “Slightly close (e.g., shared office).”

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Experience Requirements

Job Zone

Title
Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
Education
Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
Related Experience
A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
Job Training
Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
Job Zone Examples
Many of these occupations involve coordinating, supervising, managing, or training others. Examples include real estate brokers, sales managers, database administrators, graphic designers, conservation scientists, art directors, and cost estimators.
SVP Range
(7.0 to < 8.0)

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Training & Credentials

State training
Local training
Certifications

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Apprenticeship Opportunities

Example apprenticeship titles for this occupation:

  • It Project Manager

Specific title(s) listed above are vetted by industry and approved by the U.S. Department of Labor for use in a Registered Apprenticeship Program.

Start your career and build your skillset. Visit Apprenticeship.gov external site to learn about opportunities related to this occupation.

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Worker Requirements

Skills

  • Critical Thinking — Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
  • Active Listening — Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
  • Coordination — Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
  • Reading Comprehension — Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
  • Time Management — Managing one's own time and the time of others.
  • Writing — Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
  • Management of Personnel Resources — Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
  • Speaking — Talking to others to convey information effectively.
  • Systems Analysis — Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
  • Judgment and Decision Making — Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
  • Monitoring — Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
  • Systems Evaluation — Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
  • Active Learning — Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
  • Complex Problem Solving — Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
  • Negotiation — Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
  • Social Perceptiveness — Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
  • Service Orientation — Actively looking for ways to help people.
  • Instructing — Teaching others how to do something.
  • Management of Financial Resources — Determining how money will be spent to get the work done, and accounting for these expenditures.
  • Management of Material Resources — Obtaining and seeing to the appropriate use of equipment, facilities, and materials needed to do certain work.
  • Persuasion — Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
  • Learning Strategies — Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.

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Knowledge

  • English Language — Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
  • Customer and Personal Service — Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
  • Computers and Electronics — Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
  • Administration and Management — Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
  • Engineering and Technology — Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
  • Economics and Accounting — Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
  • Administrative — Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
  • Telecommunications — Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
  • Mathematics — Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
  • Personnel and Human Resources — Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
  • Communications and Media — Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.

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Education

How much education does a new hire need to perform a job in this occupation? Respondents said:

  • 38%
     
    responded: Bachelor’s degree required
  • 24%
     
    responded: Associate’s degree required
  • 19%
     
    responded: Post-baccalaureate certificate requiredmore info

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Worker Characteristics

Abilities

  • Oral Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
  • Written Comprehension — The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
  • Written Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
  • Deductive Reasoning — The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
  • Inductive Reasoning — The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
  • Information Ordering — The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
  • Oral Comprehension — The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
  • Problem Sensitivity — The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
  • Fluency of Ideas — The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
  • Near Vision — The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
  • Speech Clarity — The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
  • Speech Recognition — The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
  • Category Flexibility — The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
  • Originality — The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
  • Number Facility — The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
  • Flexibility of Closure — The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
  • Mathematical Reasoning — The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.

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Interests

Interest code: ECI
Want to discover your interests? Take the O*NET Interest Profiler at My Next Move.
  • Enterprising — Work involves managing, negotiating, marketing, or selling, typically in a business setting, or leading or advising people in political and legal situations. Enterprising occupations are often associated with business initiatives, sales, marketing/advertising, finance, management/administration, professional advising, public speaking, politics, or law.
  • Conventional — Work involves following procedures and regulations to organize information or data, typically in a business setting. Conventional occupations are often associated with office work, accounting, mathematics/statistics, information technology, finance, or human resources.
  • Investigative — Work involves studying and researching non-living objects, living organisms, disease or other forms of impairment, or human behavior. Investigative occupations are often associated with physical, life, medical, or social sciences, and can be found in the fields of humanities, mathematics/statistics, information technology, or health care service.

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Work Values

  • Achievement — Occupations that satisfy this work value are results oriented and allow employees to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment. Corresponding needs are Ability Utilization and Achievement.
  • Independence — Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions. Corresponding needs are Creativity, Responsibility and Autonomy.
  • Working Conditions — Occupations that satisfy this work value offer job security and good working conditions. Corresponding needs are Activity, Compensation, Independence, Security, Variety and Working Conditions.

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Work Styles

  • Leadership — Job requires a willingness to lead, take charge, and offer opinions and direction.
  • Integrity — Job requires being honest and ethical.
  • Initiative — Job requires a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges.
  • Stress Tolerance — Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high-stress situations.
  • Adaptability/Flexibility — Job requires being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace.
  • Dependability — Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
  • Cooperation — Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.
  • Self-Control — Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.
  • Persistence — Job requires persistence in the face of obstacles.
  • Analytical Thinking — Job requires analyzing information and using logic to address work-related issues and problems.
  • Attention to Detail — Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.
  • Concern for Others — Job requires being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job.
  • Achievement/Effort — Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.
  • Social Orientation — Job requires preferring to work with others rather than alone, and being personally connected with others on the job.
  • Independence — Job requires developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done.
  • Innovation — Job requires creativity and alternative thinking to develop new ideas for and answers to work-related problems.

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Workforce Characteristics

Wages & Employment Trends

Median wage data for Computer Occupations, All Other.
Employment data for Computer Occupations, All Other.
Industry data for Computer Occupations, All Other.
Median wages (2022)
$47.47 hourly, $98,740 annual
State wages
Local wages
Employment (2022)
449,400 employees
Projected growth (2022-2032)
Much faster than average (9% or higher)
Projected job openings (2022-2032)
33,500
State trends
Top industries (2022)

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics 2022 wage data external site and 2022-2032 employment projections external site. “Projected growth” represents the estimated change in total employment over the projections period (2022-2032). “Projected job openings” represent openings due to growth and replacement.

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Job Openings on the Web

State job openings
Local job openings

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More Information

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Sources of Additional Information

Disclaimer: Sources are listed to provide additional information on related jobs, specialties, and/or industries. Links to non-DOL Internet sites are provided for your convenience and do not constitute an endorsement.

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