The rapid advancement of technology in the last few decades has led to tremendous growth and an abundance of job opportunities in the tech sector. Two fields that have become increasingly relevant and in-demand in this period are Web Development and, more recently, Mobile Development. According to LinkedIn’s “Most Promising Jobs of 2018”, both these fields are ranked among the top ten most sought after skills of 2018. Considering the perpetually changing landscape of technology, both these skill sets offer exciting, versatile, and progressive roles, with only more to come as all things digital are becoming more and more prevalent and ingrained in our daily lives. So, how will you choose which career is the one for you- web developer or mobile developer?
Web Developer
What does the role entail?
Web Developers are tasked with the design and maintenance of websites or web-based applications. Your skillset as a web developer can be applied in various capacities. You will mainly be designing and setting up new websites for clients (making sure that the site is adaptable to various devices and functional on all web browsers) and maintaining and updating already-active websites.
Demand/Growth for web developers
According to statistics sourced by the US Department of Labor, employment of web developers are projected to grow 15% from 2016 – 2026, considerably faster than the average of most jobs. This rapid growth is contributed to the “growing popularity of mobile devices and ecommerce”.
Salary expectation
According to data sourced from PayScale, an international salary aggregator, here’s what you can expect to earn as a web developer in the US:
- Entry-level web developers (0-5 years of experience) can expect to earn a median salary of $51,000 per annum.
- Mid-level web developers (5-10 years of experience) can expect to earn a median salary of $64,000 per annum.
- Senior-level web developers (10+ year of experience) can expect to earn a median salary of $70,000 per annum.
Additionally, PayScale also adds that specializing in the ASP.NET Framework and SQL can possibly add 14% and 9% respectively to the proposed salary.
Mobile Developer
What does the role entail?
Akin to web development, the moniker “mobile development” denotes a plethora of various job descriptions, each boasting its own distinctive pay scale and required skills. In a nutshell, a mobile developer is responsible for the development of applications for various mobile devices.
Demand/Growth for web developers
According to statistics sourced by the US Department of Labor, employment of mobile developers (which falls under the “software development” category), are projected to grow 24% from 2016 – 2026, with those specializing in applications even seeing as much as 31% growth. The job applicants mostly considered for this role are individuals who are proficient in more than one programming language (HTML, C++, Java, SQL, etc.).
Salary expectation
According to data sourced from PayScale, an international salary aggregator, here’s what you can expect to earn as a mobile developer in the US:
- Entry-level mobile developers (0-5 years of experience) can expect to earn a median salary of $54,000 per annum.
- Mid-level mobile developers (5-10 years of experience) can expect to earn a median salary of $85,000 per annum.
- Senior-level mobile developers (10+ year of experience) can expect to earn a median salary of $98,000 per annum.
Additionally, PayScale also adds that specializing in either iOS or Android application development can add an extra 14% and 7% salary increase, respectively.
Conclusion
As you can see, both web and mobile development are future-centric roles that can lead to lucrative and meaningful opportunities. So either becoming a web developer or mobile developer will most likely provide a fruitful career path for you.
If you feel that web development is a career that you’d like to pursue, why not join our Full Stack Web Development Bootcamp? Or maybe you’re more interested in getting into mobile development? Then our Mobile Developer Bootcamp should be perfect.
