The Top U.S. Coding Salaries by City

A Brief History of Coding

How old do you think coding is? Would you believe almost two centuries old? Here’s a bullet timeline outlining coding’s history.

• 1843: Mathematician Ada Lovelace published an article about Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine, which has become recognized as the first algorithm.
• 1923: The German military combines coding and electricity and creates the Enigma coding machine.
• 1943: Mathematician Alan Turing’s machines, built on the earlier code-breaking work of Polish cryptologists, routinely decode thousands of Germany’s Enigma messages.
• 1952: Autocode, recognized as the first compiled programming language, debuts.
• 1954: IBM invents FORTRAN.
• 1958: LISP debuts.
• 1959: COBOL debuts.
• 1969: The Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET), the predecessor of today’s Internet, is established.
• 1970: Pascal debuts.
• 1983: The C++ language makes its debut. It's still used today in Microsoft Explorer, Google Chrome, and Adobe apps.
• 1989: Thanks to the advent of TCP/IP, ARPANET morphed into a worldwide interconnected network of networks or an “internet.” ARPANET would be decommissioned a year later.
• 1990: Python debuts.
• 1991: Visual Basic debuts.
• 1995: A banner year for languages such as Java, JavaScript, Object Pascal, and PHP debut.
• 2002: Microsoft’s .NET, a series of languages residing in a single framework, revolutionizes the modern office.

What’s the Difference Between Coding and Programming?

Though many people use these words interchangeably, there are significant differences between coding and programming. Computer code is the system of rules or sets of instructions written in any given programming language. So, coding is the process of translating our human language into lines of code that the computer can understand, and it’s the first step to developing a piece of software. Coding languages include Java, JavaScript, Python, and PHP.

On the other hand, programming is the task of creating an executable computer program that follows a set of instructions. Coding is actually considered part of the programming process. Computers can’t understand English, so the coder facilitates communication by converting the language into a computer language, then programmers create the application that handles all the tasks required.

The State of Coding and Programming Today

According to the figures provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Information Technology and general computer employment will grow 13 percent between 2020 and 2030, a growth rate faster than the rate across all occupations, which clocks in at 8 percent. This data indicates that we'll need coders and programmers for at least another decade.

Furthermore, the BLS projects that software developers (including programming and coding) will grow at an even higher rate, 22 percent, from 2020 to 2030!

Coding and programming skills remain relevant today. Think of it: the OS your device uses, the apps you run on that device, and even this website, are all possible thanks to coding and programming. As long as there is a need to facilitate communication between humans and computers, and as long as people keep demanding new apps and software, there will be an ever-present need for coders and programmers.

So, where are the best U.S. coding salaries?

U.S. Coding Salaries

According to Indeed, here are the nine U.S. cities that pay the best salaries for computer coding specialists. We also give you a glimpse at full-stack developers in the U.S. by showing what happens if you expand to full-stack development from coding. Note that these figures can vary from week to week, depending on factors such as position availability and the number of coding professionals in the area:

• Dallas, TX: $67,941 per year. Full-stack developer: $109,435 per year.
• New York, NY: $63, 814 per year. Full-stack developer: $120,797 per year.
• Nashville, TN: $63,703 per year. Full-stack developer: $94,283 per year.
• Chicago, IL: $61,205 per year. Full-stack developer: $107,964 per year.
• St. Louis, MO: $57,800 per year. Full-stack developer: $105,948 per year.
• Tampa, FL: $53,624 per year. Full-stack developer: $111,605 per year.
• Houston, TX: $50,207 per year. Full-stack developer: $93,431 per year.
• Cincinnati, OH: $50,019 per year. Full-stack developer: $94,001 per year.
• Jacksonville, FL: $49,677 per year. Full-stack developer: $91,497 per year.

U.S. Programming Salaries

Next, here are the nine cities that pay the best U.S. computer programming salaries, according to Indeed.

• Los Angeles, CA: $93,780 per year.
• Austin, TX: $88,621 per year.
• New York, NY: $84,525 per year.
• Washington DC: $77,512 per year.
• Houston, TX: $62,737 per year.
• Oklahoma City, OK: $57,158 per year.
• Jacksonville, FL: $53,864 per year.
• Huntsville, AL: $48,096 per year.
• Orlando, FL: $46,511 per year.

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Would You Like to Learn How to Code?

We will need more coders, programmers, and full-stack developers in the foreseeable future, so if you’re looking for a secure, in-demand career that pays well, look no further than coding! And the good news is, Simplilearn can help you realize your goal and earn a top U.S. coding salary thanks to their Caltech Coding Bootcamp.

This bootcamp, held in conjunction with Caltech's Center for Technology and Management Education (CTME), will give you a solid understanding of both front-end and back-end Java technologies, beginning with the basics and moving on to the advanced aspects of Full Stack Web Development. The bootcamp teaches you Angular, Spring Boot, web services, JSPs, and MongoDB, all the elements you need to kick off your new career as a full-stack developer.

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