---
title: "Computer Programmer"
description: "Create, modify, and test the code and scripts that allow computer applications to run. Work from specifications drawn up by software and web developers…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/computer-programmer"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Computer Programmer

**Category:** Computer and Mathematical · **SOC code:** 15-1251 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 15-1251.00

Create, modify, and test the code and scripts that allow computer applications to run. Work from specifications drawn up by software and web developers or other individuals. May develop and write computer programs to store, locate, and retrieve specific documents, data, and information.

Also advertised as: Analyst Programmer; Application Programmer Analyst; Computer Programmer; Computer Programmer Analyst; Internet Programmer; Java Developer; Programmer; Programmer Analyst.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $100,390 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $48.26/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $57,710 to $160,460, with the middle half between $75,850 and $130,680
- **Total US employment:** 92,230
- **Typical entry education:** Bachelor's
- **Preparation required:** Medium preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** -7.3% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 4,400 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 14/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 92,230 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $57,710 |
| 25th | $75,850 |
| 50th (median) | $100,390 |
| 75th | $130,680 |
| 90th | $160,460 |
| Mean (average) | $105,170 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| CT | $133,820 | $129,157 | 1,650 |
| MA | $128,390 | $121,401 | 1,930 |
| WA | $125,620 | $117,388 | 2,540 |
| MD | $125,570 | $119,637 | 2,490 |
| VA | $121,610 | $120,282 | 3,070 |
| HI | $118,180 | $107,484 | 450 |
| CA | $116,760 | $105,455 | 11,340 |
| AR | $111,840 | $128,645 | 1,050 |
| MN | $107,250 | $108,750 | 2,070 |
| NJ | $104,940 | $96,448 | 3,930 |
| UT | $104,890 | $106,095 | 690 |
| CO | $104,610 | $101,512 | 930 |
| NY | $103,980 | $96,348 | 7,020 |
| ME | $101,780 | $104,874 | 450 |
| OK | $99,780 | $113,589 | 990 |

32 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 47 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/computer-programmer/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/computer-programmer.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 110,800 in the 2025–2035 base year to 102,700 by the end of the cycle — a loss of 8,100 jobs, or -7.3%. Declining: -7.3% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 4,400 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2025–2035.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** Bachelor's degree (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Medium preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** None.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** None.

### Education people in this job actually hold

O\*NET surveys incumbents, so this distribution describes who is in the job today and can differ from the BLS entry requirement above.

| Education level | Share of workers |
| --- | --- |
| Bachelor's Degree | 88.0% |
| Associate's Degree or other 2-year degree | 9.0% |
| Some College Courses | 2.5% |
| Master's Degree | 0.5% |

## What the work involves

- Perform or direct revision, repair, or expansion of existing programs to increase operating efficiency or adapt to new requirements.
- Compile and write documentation of program development and subsequent revisions, inserting comments in the coded instructions so others can understand the program.
- Consult with managerial, engineering, and technical personnel to clarify program intent, identify problems, and suggest changes.
- Conduct trial runs of programs and software applications to be sure they will produce the desired information and that the instructions are correct.
- Correct errors by making appropriate changes and rechecking the program to ensure that the desired results are produced.
- Write, analyze, review, and rewrite programs, using workflow chart and diagram, and applying knowledge of computer capabilities, subject matter, and symbolic logic.
- Write, update, and maintain computer programs or software packages to handle specific jobs such as tracking inventory, storing or retrieving data, or controlling other equipment.
- Prepare detailed workflow charts and diagrams that describe input, output, and logical operation, and convert them into a series of instructions coded in a computer language.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Active Listening — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Reading Comprehension — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Programming — importance 4.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Complex Problem Solving — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Quality Control Analysis — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Systems Analysis — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Social Perceptiveness — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operations Analysis — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Systems Evaluation — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Computers and Electronics — importance 4.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Engineering and Technology — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- English Language — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Customer and Personal Service — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Administration and Management — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Written Comprehension — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Comprehension — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Near Vision — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Problem Sensitivity — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Deductive Reasoning — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Inductive Reasoning — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Conventional (C), Investigative (I), Realistic (R).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| C — Conventional | 5.92 |
| I — Investigative | 5.10 |
| R — Realistic | 3.37 |
| A — Artistic | 2.51 |
| E — Enterprising | 2.09 |
| S — Social | 1.98 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| ISTJ | 86.5 |
| INTJ | 80.0 |
| ISTP | 70.6 |
| ISFJ | 69.3 |
| ESTJ | 65.7 |

Best-fitting types: ISTJ.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Software Developer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/software-developer) — median $135,980
- [Web Designer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/web-designer) — median $104,000
- [Computer Systems Engineers/Architect](https://nuecareer.com/careers/computer-systems-engineers-architect) — median $116,580
- [Computer Systems Analyst](https://nuecareer.com/careers/computer-systems-analyst) — median $105,850
- [Database Administrator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/database-administrator) — median $104,620
- [Database Architect](https://nuecareer.com/careers/database-architect) — median $139,500
- [QA Analyst](https://nuecareer.com/careers/qa-analyst) — median $104,300
- [Blockchain Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/blockchain-engineer) — median $116,580
- [Computer Hardware Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/computer-hardware-engineer) — median $161,740
- [Computer Network Architect](https://nuecareer.com/careers/computer-network-architect) — median $134,050

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 31.0 Database, August 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2025–2035. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025–2035 edition. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/computer-programmer