What is a Contract Developer?

A contract developer is someone who develops applications for a client on a short-term contract. Unlike a regular developer, they usually are not employed full-time at a company but sign on for a temporary contract, as long as it takes to finish a project. This offers them more flexibility with their work and the ability to take on new challenges.

Contract developers do the same tasks that regular developers do, which are designing, developing, and testing web applications. They need to be highly proficient in multiple coding languages, from alpha source code to HTML. Besides their technical skills, they also need to have good communication skills to make sure that they are on the same page with the rest of the company's team.

Some contract developers have only a high school diploma and are self-taught coders. However, a bachelor's in computer science will make it easier to stand out in this highly competitive field. Contract developers also need some experience as a developer or software engineer before striking out on their own. It takes several years to become a contract developer, but it's worth it in the end-they earn an average salary of $102,243 a year.

What Does a Contract Developer Do

There are certain skills that many contract developers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed interpersonal skills, problem-solving skills and detail oriented.

Learn more about what a Contract Developer does

How To Become a Contract Developer

If you're interested in becoming a contract developer, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 67.7% of contract developers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 14.4% of contract developers have master's degrees. Even though most contract developers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Contract Developer
Top Contract Developer Jobs Near You

Contract Developer Career Paths

In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of senior software engineer you might progress to a role such as project manager eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title product management director.

Contract Developer

Average Salary for a Contract Developer

Contract Developers in America make an average salary of $91,433 per year or $44 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $123,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $67,000 per year.
Average Contract Developer Salary
$91,433 Yearly
$43.96 hourly
See More Salary Information

What Am I Worth?

salary-calculator

Roles and Types of Contract Developer

The role of a contract developer includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general contract developer responsibilities:

  • System design writing high quality code that satisfies customer requirements developing
  • Achieve annual sales and profitability targets sales to hvac contractors develop marketing
  • Lead the dev team in builds production, modification,

There are several types of contract developer, including:

Developer

Role:

No matter what industry you're in as a developer, you'll always be a developer. Let me explain. Most developers only refer to themselves professionally as developers. Which kind of seems like a no-brainer. Except that there are lots of different types of developers out there. So even if you're a software developer, you'll probably still only be known as a developer.

Most developers have very little experience. In fact, the majority have less than 5 years of experience. So you could become a developer in very little time. It's definitely a young person's game. While we're on the topic of experience, the majority of the knowledge surrounding the developer job title is self-taught.

That's right. The majority of developers teach themselves how to become a developer. Condensed education and only a little bit of experience, it doesn't get better than that. Except that it does. Developers are essential in most every industry, resulting in a lot of job opportunities. But which one will you be the happiest at? Research points to gaming developers.

  • Average Salary: $100,076
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Software Developer

Role:

As a software developer, you'll spend a lot of time analyzing what exactly customers need. In fact, you might put those needs ahead of other aspects of your job. After all, a happy customer means a happy business.

On top of assessing needs, you'll be responsible for making sure those needs are met through developing special software. You might even recommend certain upgrades for customers, if you feel that will help them along the way.

Most employers will expect you to have a bachelor's degree. So it looks like you might need to put some time and resources into your education. Just to make sure potential employers are impressed. If nothing else, the extra education may put you ahead of your colleagues.

  • Average Salary: $87,521
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Web Developer

Role:

Web developers create websites. They do the coding, take care of the design, the layout, and the technical aspects of the page, to make sure visiting the website will allow for a fun and functional user experience.

As a profession, primarily imagined as the realm of the genius, web development tends to intimidate women and is currently a male dominated discipline. But the demand for programmers is ever increasing, with not enough work-force to satisfy this market as we speak.

Having a college degree is not a prerequisite to start earning in this field. Self-taught hotshots rule web development, and there are countless training opportunities and online courses out there to get you up to speed with the job, once you set your mind to it. Rest assured, not one of those tech-savvy pros got to where they are without putting in their 10,000 hours of learning and practicing time.

Web programming is a liberating and empowering profession that will give you the financial independence you always dreamed of. Plus, it is a job you can do from anywhere, which can open up new horizons for you. Literally.

  • Average Salary: $78,975
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree
View More

States With The Most Contract Developer Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active contract developer jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where contract developers earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Contract Developer Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California5,053$115,984
2Texas2,912$84,933
3Virginia2,385$93,769
4Florida2,099$87,497
5Pennsylvania1,941$92,574
6Illinois1,854$79,148
7New York1,784$101,869
8New Jersey1,659$87,422
9Ohio1,601$76,295
10North Carolina1,517$71,371
11Georgia1,472$77,084
12Massachusetts1,450$84,091
13Maryland1,405$79,957
14Washington1,118$104,961
15Minnesota1,068$75,006
16Michigan1,035$76,273
17Colorado897$83,548
18Indiana869$77,560
19Oregon788$93,309
20Arizona785$85,692
21Missouri776$77,288
22Utah736$84,359
23Wisconsin724$74,204
24Tennessee699$73,574
25Alabama547$74,911
26Connecticut473$82,575
27Kansas472$66,616
28Kentucky459$74,026
29Iowa452$71,918
30South Carolina443$77,995
31Nebraska374$72,504
32Louisiana364$77,021
33Arkansas348$74,355
34New Mexico342$82,771
35Rhode Island334$91,518
36Nevada319$93,331
37Oklahoma294$72,929
38New Hampshire278$83,565
39Idaho274$94,808
40Montana212$85,032
41Maine200$83,995
42Delaware178$89,314
43West Virginia176$83,543
44Vermont174$83,088
45Mississippi164$73,937
46North Dakota143$75,785
47South Dakota141$84,402
48Hawaii113$71,769
49Alaska105$84,726
50Wyoming83$80,639

Contract Developer Education

Contract Developer Majors

Computer Science
25.6 %
Business
17.5 %
Computer Information Systems
6.0 %

Contract Developer Degrees

Bachelors

67.7 %

Masters

14.4 %

Associate

10.9 %

Top Colleges for Contract Developers

1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Cambridge, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,832

Enrollment

4,550

2. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

3. Harvard University

Cambridge, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$50,420

Enrollment

7,582

4. Duke University

Durham, NC • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,695

Enrollment

6,596

5. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

6. Georgia Institute of Technology

Atlanta, GA • Private

In-State Tuition

$12,424

Enrollment

15,201

7. Cornell University

Ithaca, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,188

Enrollment

15,105

8. Georgetown University

Washington, DC • Private

In-State Tuition

$54,104

Enrollment

7,089

9. Dartmouth College

Hanover, NH • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,453

Enrollment

4,312

10. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-State Tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

Top Skills For a Contract Developer

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 7.4% of contract developers listed c++ on their resume, but soft skills such as interpersonal skills and problem-solving skills are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Contract Developer Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Contract Developer templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Contract Developer resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

Contract Developer Resume
Contract Developer Resume
Contract Developer Resume
Contract Developer Resume
Contract Developer Resume
Contract Developer Resume
Contract Developer Resume
Contract Developer Resume
Contract Developer Resume
Contract Developer Resume
Contract Developer Resume
Contract Developer Resume
Contract Developer Resume
Contract Developer Resume
Contract Developer Resume
Contract Developer Resume

Contract Developer diversity

Contract Developer Gender Distribution

Male
Male
72%
Female
Female
29%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among contract developers, 28.5% of them are women, while 71.5% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among contract developers is White, which makes up 54.8% of all contract developers.

  • The most common foreign language among contract developers is Spanish at 39.2%.

Online Courses For Contract Developer That You May Like

Advertising Disclosure  

1. Software Engineering Immersive (Full-time)

general_assembly

Meet the global demand for technical problem-solvers by developing your coding skills to create full-stack web applications across multiple frameworks, incorporating functionality from third-party APIs, executing software engineering projects in an Agile development workflow, and more...

2. Data Science Immersive (Full-time)

general_assembly

Harness the power of data science to solve the world’s most challenging problems by developing your skills in predictive modeling, pattern recognition, data visualization, wrangling massive data sets, forecasting trends, and informing strategy across diverse industries like public policy, robotics, and FinTech...

3. Intro to HTML and CSS

udacity

Throughout this course, you'll learn about the underlying structure of the web - HTML. You'll learn how to use this tree-like structure to create websites. You'll also learn how to apply styling to a website through CSS. You'll learn about CSS syntax, selectors, and units. Along the way, you'll also learn about code editors and a browser's Developer Tools...

Show More Online Courses For Contract Developer
Job type you want
Full Time
Part Time
Internship
Temporary

Best States For a Contract Developer

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a contract developer. The best states for people in this position are California, Washington, New York, and Idaho. Contract developers make the most in California with an average salary of $115,984. Whereas in Washington and New York, they would average $104,961 and $101,869, respectively. While contract developers would only make an average of $94,808 in Idaho, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. California

Total Contract Developer Jobs: 5,053
Highest 10% Earn:
$162,000
Location Quotient:
1.1

$115,984

Avg. Salary

View 5,053 Contract Developer Jobs In CA

2. Rhode Island

Total Contract Developer Jobs: 334
Highest 10% Earn:
$123,000
Location Quotient:
1.76

$91,518

Avg. Salary

View 334 Contract Developer Jobs In RI

3. Idaho

Total Contract Developer Jobs: 274
Highest 10% Earn:
$132,000
Location Quotient:
1.07

$94,808

Avg. Salary

View 274 Contract Developer Jobs In ID
Full List Of Best States For Contract Developers

How Do Contract Developers Rate Their Jobs?

Working as a Contract Developer? Share your experience anonymously.
Overall Rating*
Career Growth
Work/Life balance
Pay/Salary

Top Contract Developer Employers

Most Common Employers For Contract Developer

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Google$138,579$66.624
2Microsoft$127,107$61.115
3Cisco$124,160$59.696
4Avanade$116,534$56.035
5AT&T$112,367$54.0211
6Wells Fargo$109,518$52.6512
7TEKsystems$102,393$49.237
8Boeing$96,921$46.605
9Robert Half$93,281$44.855
10Motion Recruitment$93,256$44.8315
Show More

Contract Developer Videos

What it's like being a self-employed developer
How to get a job as a Software Developer
When to hire freelance software developer or contract a web development company

Contract Developer Related Careers

Contract Developer Related Jobs

What Similar Roles Do

Resume For Related Jobs

Updated April 6, 2023