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Information Technology | Application Developer / Engineer

Application Developer / Engineer

What Does a Professional in this Career Do?

An Application Developer or Engineer designs or improves applications software. Oversees the entire applications development process. Analyzes customer or user needs, designs programs, writes code or instructs computer programmers, tests design, and documents programs. May assist with upgrades or maintenance.

Job Outlook

There were 1721 Application Developer / Engineer job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 39956 in the United States.

In combination with other careers in the Software Developer / Engineer industry, which includes the Application Developer / Engineer career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2016:

Salary

Many new Application Developer / Engineer jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.

National

The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $111,238.

State

The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $109,482.

Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Application Developer / Engineer postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $95,073.

Education and Experience

Posted Application Developer / Engineer jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.

Education LevelPercentage
Associate's Degree0%
Bachelor's Degree66.24%
Master's Degree19.61%
Doctoral Degree4.26%
Other4.4%

Posted Application Developer / Engineer jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.

Years of ExperiencePercentage
0 to 2 years17.95%
3 to 5 years48.68%
6 to 8 years20.96%
9+ years12.41%

Skills

Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Application Developer / Engineer positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.

Baseline Skills

A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.

  • Communication (41.87%)
  • Problem Solving (28.99%)
  • Troubleshooting (Problem Solving) (28.13%)
  • Management (21.89%)
  • Sales (20.92%)
  • Leadership (16.87%)
  • Operations (16.56%)
  • Customer Service (15.11%)
  • Innovation (14.1%)
  • Writing (13.66%)

Defining Skills

A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.

  • Computer Science (38.82%)
  • SQL (Programming Language) (26.8%)
  • Agile Methodology (23.97%)
  • Application Development (22.55%)
  • Software Development (21.64%)
  • JavaScript (Programming Language) (20.09%)

Necessary Skills

A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.

  • Java (Programming Language) (19.56%)
  • Python (Programming Language) (22.31%)
  • Application Programming Interface (API) (20.94%)
  • Project Management (18.7%)
  • Debugging (20.3%)
  • C# (Programming Language) (15.96%)
  • Automation (16.77%)
  • Software Engineering (13.9%)
  • Amazon Web Services (13.16%)
  • Technical Support (14.29%)
  • Business Requirements (11.63%)
  • HyperText Markup Language (HTML) (10.39%)
  • Git (Version Control System) (11.9%)
  • Angular (Web Framework) (9.72%)
  • Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) (9.73%)
  • Workflow Management (12.5%)
  • Microsoft Azure (11.48%)
  • Scripting (10.27%)
  • New Product Development (9.96%)
  • Unit Testing (9.48%)
  • Scalability (15.84%)
  • Web Services (7.84%)
  • RESTful API (10.97%)
  • DevOps (11.15%)
  • Scrum (Software Development) (9.67%)
  • Software Development Life Cycle (8.98%)
  • CI/CD (12.22%)
  • React.js (Javascript Library) (8.59%)
  • Systems Development Life Cycle (8.84%)
  • Linux (9.69%)
  • Electrical Engineering (10.04%)
  • Version Control (10.3%)
  • Business Process (7.22%)
  • Code Review (8.97%)
  • Microsoft SQL Servers (6.69%)
  • Information Systems (6.97%)
  • Programming Languages (8.61%)
  • Marketing (7.76%)
  • C++ (Programming Language) (7.31%)
  • Full Stack Development (8.62%)
  • Relational Databases (6.56%)

Salary Boosting Skills

A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is listed.

  • Application Development (100%)

Alternative Job Titles

Sometimes employers post jobs with Application Developer / Engineer skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:

  • Application Engineer
  • Application Developer
  • Application Programmer
  • Field Application Engineer
  • Application Software Engineer
  • Mobile Application Developer
  • IT Application Developer
  • Application Development Engineer
  • Software Application Developer
  • IT Application Engineer

Similar Occupations

If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.

Common Employers

Here are the employers that have posted the most Application Developer / Engineer jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.

United States

  • Genesis10 (1079)
  • Amazon (438)
  • Ford (438)
  • GE Aerospace (414)
  • Cayuse Holdings (395)
  • Ryder (382)
  • BCforward (371)
  • Schneider Electric (329)
  • Lincoln Financial Group (319)
  • CBRE (251)

North Carolina

  • Genesis10 (279)
  • BCforward (80)
  • Mitchell Martin (42)
  • Randstad (42)
  • Collabera (32)
  • Ihire (31)
  • Siemens (27)
  • Actalent (22)
  • Schneider Electric (22)
  • Innova Solution (21)

NC State Programs Relevant to this Career

If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!