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Job outlook for content developers in the United States
Are content developer jobs in demand?
Content developer job and salary trends over time
Content developer jobs over time
Content developer job growth rate over time
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 3,128 | 0.00% |
| 2020 | 7,879 | 0.00% |
| 2019 | 1,614 | 0.00% |
| 2018 | 1,464 | 0.00% |
| 2017 | 1,448 | 0.00% |
Average content developer salary over time
Content developer salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | $72,030 | $34.63 | +3.4% |
| 2025 | $69,657 | $33.49 | +2.3% |
| 2024 | $68,080 | $32.73 | +2.1% |
| 2023 | $66,668 | $32.05 | +2.8% |
| 2022 | $64,844 | $31.17 | +1.8% |
Content developer jobs by state
Most common states for content developers
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | 693,972 | 448 | 65% |
| 2 | Nebraska | 1,920,076 | 356 | 19% |
| 3 | Minnesota | 5,576,606 | 980 | 18% |
| 4 | Virginia | 8,470,020 | 1,461 | 17% |
| 5 | Maryland | 6,052,177 | 1,000 | 17% |
| 6 | North Dakota | 755,393 | 130 | 17% |
| 7 | Wyoming | 579,315 | 93 | 16% |
| 8 | Colorado | 5,607,154 | 864 | 15% |
| 9 | New Mexico | 2,088,070 | 320 | 15% |
| 10 | Georgia | 10,429,379 | 1,426 | 14% |
| 11 | Washington | 7,405,743 | 1,061 | 14% |
| 12 | Kansas | 2,913,123 | 419 | 14% |
| 13 | South Dakota | 869,666 | 123 | 14% |
| 14 | Vermont | 623,657 | 87 | 14% |
| 15 | Ohio | 11,658,609 | 1,505 | 13% |
| 16 | Indiana | 6,666,818 | 836 | 13% |
| 17 | Iowa | 3,145,711 | 398 | 13% |
| 18 | Maine | 1,335,907 | 170 | 13% |
| 19 | Rhode Island | 1,059,639 | 138 | 13% |
| 20 | Massachusetts | 6,859,819 | 803 | 12% |
Most common cities for content developers
| Rank | City | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl | Avg. salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Frankfort | 2 | 7% | $61,322 |
| 2 | Hartford | 7 | 6% | $66,707 |
| 3 | Annapolis | 2 | 5% | $64,066 |
| 4 | Dover | 2 | 5% | $63,444 |
| 5 | Atlanta | 8 | 2% | $70,410 |
| 6 | Little Rock | 4 | 2% | $61,155 |
| 7 | Tallahassee | 4 | 2% | $60,481 |
| 8 | Boston | 5 | 1% | $69,230 |
| 9 | Denver | 4 | 1% | $57,343 |
| 10 | Washington | 4 | 1% | $71,733 |
| 11 | Des Moines | 3 | 1% | $59,188 |
| 12 | Urban Honolulu | 3 | 1% | $60,064 |
| 13 | Baton Rouge | 2 | 1% | $61,997 |
| 14 | Birmingham | 2 | 1% | $58,488 |
| 15 | Chicago | 3 | 0% | $64,596 |
| 16 | Indianapolis | 3 | 0% | $63,033 |
| 17 | Phoenix | 3 | 0% | $70,087 |
| 18 | Baltimore | 2 | 0% | $63,974 |
Content Developer job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of content developer experts
Texas Woman's University
Longwood University
Xavier University of Louisiana
Indiana University South Bend
Illinois Wesleyan University
What Content Developer skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Dr. Aimée Myers Ph.D.: Digital literacy, multimedia creating/editing, intercultural communication, content curation/management.
What will help Content Developers increase their earning potential?
Dr. Aimée Myers Ph.D.: First, learn how to negotiate. Research typical salaries for the roles and industries you're interested in, and be prepared to negotiate your compensation package effectively, highlighting the value you can bring to the employer. Along those lines, attend negotiating workshops, especially if you are a woman. Second, really showcase your soft skills. Soft skills like communication, teamwork, and creativity are often seen in English majors more than any other academic area. These soft skills are often transferable across different jobs and industries, and they play a crucial role in helping individuals succeed in their careers, build strong professional relationships, and contribute effectively to their organizations. Employers are requesting graduates with these skills more and more.
What soft skills should all Content Developers possess?
Dr. Ryan Stouffer: Increase uncertainty and probably lack of hiring some fields other fields again because I mentioned are doing better than ever, I think soft skills are the two biggest I have our communication, surprise, surprise and project management. Communication I think in the again the digital age, working from home working from all over the country both the written communication and oral communication needs to be top notch and proactive.
I know many of my soon-to-be-graduates struggle, sometimes being proactive in their communication reaching out to me when things are happening as opposed to after things are happening, so I think that idea of always being open always responding like hey I got that email or yet i'm working on it may be a few days and just always having that communication flowing here is one of the most important skills in both written and oral format.
And i've mentioned project management so many people are now either working from home or working on their own much more working and kind of out with direct without direct supervision.
And so the ability to stay organized and stay efficient is huge, something I personally feel i'm really strong and I always try to impart my my students come up with an organizational strategy, make sure none those balls get dropped, make sure you know where all your projects are because I think that ability to do that be efficient and work from home work from anywhere is a really something you'd set soon to be graduates or recent graduates apart here.
Ashwith Chilvery Ph.D.
Director, Dual-Degree Engineering Program, Assistant Professor of PhysicsXavier University of Louisiana
Department of Physics and Computer Science
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Content Developers?
Ashwith Chilvery Ph.D.: The coronavirus pandemic has made a substantial impact on every industry across latitude and longitude. It adapted us to the new normal, which some industries see as a boon and others as bane. HigherEd, which happens to be the oldest and mature industry, is no exception. The cohort of graduates who are very special because they are flexible, comprehend concepts via simulations, videos and peer mentoring. The benefits of these pedagogies are unique, thought provoking and content rich. Subsequently, our conventional methods to calibrate or gauge student's learning outcomes were fine-tuned to current circumstances. Moreover, the prominence of online learning has also enabled us to bridge the gap. So, the repercussions of pandemic on current graduates would be narrow and low-gravity.
What technical skills for a Content Developer stand out to employers?
Ashwith Chilvery Ph.D.: In any job market, employers always desire graduates with sound technical skills that complement their teams. For instance, graduates may want to be cognizant of disruptive technologies in their fields such as software programming, coding, designing, 3d printing, project management, digital marketing, technical writing, data analytics and etc. In addition, employers have special fondness for graduates with multidisciplinary capabilities and skills. Having such sound skills would enable them to evolve as an independent thinker and thrive as a team player.
What experience really stands out on Content Developer resumes?
Hang Dinh Ph.D.: Determining which experiences stand out on resumes depends on the position. For example, when we look for developers for ExtentWorld, we would love someone with experience in building complex or large scale systems and in designing advanced algorithms. The experience of simple coding would not stand out for such a position. At ExtentWorld, we have code-generating tools that help us build a complex one-stop social media platform at Extentworld with just two developers. This means the simple coding tasks can be automated. Graduates of computer science should have more than just coding experience.
Brian Law
Assistant Professor of Computer ScienceIllinois Wesleyan University
Computer Science Department
What general advice would you give to a Content Developer?
Brian Law: i) Explore your options thoroughly. Too many students get bewitched by Big Tech companies, with their bold promises, their fancy campuses, their big recruitment events, and their nice swag. Nowadays, this also happens to students with start-ups. But those jobs are not only highly competitive, but they also have very similarly exacting work cultures and very little work-life balance. These are cutthroat environments that are, frankly, not suited for everyone. Instead, many graduates would probably be happier working at, say, medium or small-size companies where they can find a workplace culture that fits them rather than the other way around, or non-tech companies where the pressure is lower because the goal is more stability and support rather than rapid innovation. Of course, this is the exact same dynamic that plays out with young consultants, accountants, lawyers, and doctors, who are also often initially attracted to high-powered, high-pressure environments but often end up deciding it's not for them, especially as they get older and start thinking about families.
ii) Specialize. There's no job out there with the title, "Computer Scientist." Employers are looking to hire you for a specific set of skills and knowledge. If you can identify the area of Computer Science you're interested in and the work you want to do in that area, you can again get a big leg up over your competition if you can demonstrate that you actually want to do what your future employer wants you to and that you're good at it. If you want to work with databases, then take those extra database electives and learn some other database technologies on your own time, and your resume will stand out amongst all the others for any DBA job.
iii) Don't sweat it too much. You've probably been alive for 22 years or so, so you'll probably be in the labor force for 50+ years. Your first job is not going to be your last job, and you may easily find your career path taking unexpected turns that you never even knew existed. Just like you didn't know what the areas of computer science were as a freshman, there are many many CS-related job types out there that you're not even aware of, and 50 years from now, there will probably be even more. While it may seem like your first job will set you on one path for the rest of your life, really it starts you towards 5000 possible paths out of millions in total. No, you don't get the stability of a "job for life" anymore, but that can also be freeing in a way. Don't worry about finding that "perfect" job; even if you did find it, you and the world around you will change over time anyway, so just take your first step confidently and always keep an eye out for your next one.
What Content Developer skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Brian Law: There are several areas that are "hot" right now, such as the previously-mentioned data science, artificial intelligence, and systems, but also cybersecurity and databases/data warehousing. That being said, the most important thing for a new graduate seeking employment to do is just to do anything, produce something. Tech employers don't and have never trusted computer science credentialing; that mistrust is the origin of the infamous "tech interview," used to verify whether a candidate actually has the technical skills to back up their piece of paper.
So to preemptively answer that question and get a leg up on other candidates, graduates should be sure to generate some artifact(s) that demonstrate(s) their technical and organizational skills. Show them that you can plan a project, design it, see it through in programming it, and do so in a responsible, organized manner (good coding style, readable code, well-documented, and using proper version control), and you'll have addressed your future employer's greatest worries right off the bat.
If it's a project in one of these "hot" areas or specifically tuned for the work the employer does, all the better, but anything the employer is doing is probably leagues beyond what a fresh graduate can do by themselves in a few months, so ultimately they're not going to be that impressed with your domain-specific technical knowledge. Instead treat it more as an opportunity to show off your "soft" skills, your programming maturity, and your ability to actually produce a product rather than just answer exam questions. And while you're at it, you might as well make it something fun for yourself so you'll be driven to finish it.