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The differences between application leads and project leaders can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both an application lead and a project leader. Additionally, an application lead has an average salary of $112,992, which is higher than the $98,559 average annual salary of a project leader.
The top three skills for an application lead include java, architecture and emerging technologies. The most important skills for a project leader are project management, work ethic, and C++.
| Application Lead | Project Leader | |
| Yearly salary | $112,992 | $98,559 |
| Hourly rate | $54.32 | $47.38 |
| Growth rate | 9% | 9% |
| Number of jobs | 163,233 | 221,165 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Average age | 43 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
A lead applications developer is in charge of directing the development department in applications design, creation, coding, debugging, and testing. Lead applications developers serve as mentors for lower-level or new software programmers or developers. They supervise the development team members in pair programming, code reviews, and good development principle promotions. Their duties include the coordination of the schedule of development staff. Also, they ensure effective communication between the team members and the other IT functions.
A project leader is responsible for supervising the team and managing the distribution of tasks to ensure the project's success with the highest efficiency and accuracy. Duties of a project leader include motivating the team, managing the team's needs and concerns, providing effective strategies to improve the team's performance, creating reports, monitoring the team's progress, and maintaining the coordination between team members. A project leader should have exceptional leadership skills to handle the team's operation and identify areas of improvement to deliver excellent results.
Application leads and project leaders have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Application Lead | Project Leader | |
| Average salary | $112,992 | $98,559 |
| Salary range | Between $86,000 And $147,000 | Between $70,000 And $138,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Oregon | California |
| Best paying company | Boston Consulting Group | |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Professional |
There are a few differences between an application lead and a project leader in terms of educational background:
| Application Lead | Project Leader | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between application leads' and project leaders' demographics:
| Application Lead | Project Leader | |
| Average age | 43 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 73.7% Female, 26.3% | Male, 69.0% Female, 31.0% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.6% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 10.5% Asian, 22.6% White, 52.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 12.0% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 8% | 11% |