Employees in the computer systems design and related services industry generally command higher earnings than the national average. All production or nonsupervisory workers in the industry averaged $1,103 a week in 2002, significantly higher than the average of $506 for all industries. This reflects the concentration of professionals and specialists who often are highly compensated for their specialized skills or expertise. Given the pace at which technology advances in this industry, earnings can be driven by demand for specific skills or experience. Workers in segments of the industry that offer only professional services have even higher average earnings because there are fewer less skilled, lower paid workers in these segments.

As one might expect, education and experience influence earnings as well. For example, annual earnings of computer software engineers ranged from less than $43,750 for the lowest 10 percent to more than $113,590 for the highest 10 percent in 2002. Managers usually earn more because they have been on the job longer and are more experienced than their staffs, but their salaries, too, can vary by level and experience. Accordingly, annual earnings of computer and information systems managers ranged from less than $55,620 for the lowest 10 percent to more than $145,600 for the highest 10 percent in 2002. Earnings also are affected by other factors, such as size, location, and type of establishment, hours and responsibilities of the employee, and level of sales.

Unionization is rare in the computer systems design and related services industry; fewer than 2 percent of all workers are union members or are covered by union contracts, compared with 15 percent of workers throughout private industry.