How To Become A Contract Web Developer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a contract web developer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted experts

Brian Glas,

Kevin Treu Ph.D.

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a contract web developer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $38.08 an hour? That's $79,203 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 13% and produce 20,900 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a contract web developer?

Brian Glas

Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Union University

Build relationships: Different technologies will interest and challenge you, but throughout your career, you'll find that it's the relationships that are the most important. This is harder to grasp earlier in your career, but much easier to understand after 15-20 years.
Gain different perspectives: Spend time with people in other roles that your job interacts with, and gain a solid understanding of how they view things; this is most valuable for career progression and understanding of how your work fits into the big picture.

ScoreContract Web DeveloperUS Average

Salary

6.2

Avg. Salary $79,203

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.2

Growth rate 13%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.42%

Asian 13.84%

Black or African American 7.00%

Hispanic or Latino 13.01%

Unknown 6.67%

White 59.05%

Gender

female 20.51%

male 79.49%

Age - 36

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 36

Stress level

5.2

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.3

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.8

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a contract web developer

Explore contract web developer education requirements

Most common contract web developer degrees

Bachelor's

65.8 %

Associate

15.8 %

Master's

12.3 %

Start to develop specific contract web developer skills

Skills	Percentages
JavaScript	9.85%
HTML	5.87%
CSS	5.87%
WordPress	5.38%
Web Development	5.37%

Complete relevant contract web developer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New contract web developers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a contract web developer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real contract web developer resumes.

Research contract web developer duties and responsibilities

Lead team in first implementation of cascading style sheets (CSS).
Create AJAX base trainer search allowing client to manage content utilizing XML.
Manage high transaction databases including all database objects, triggers, procedures, user rights and functions.
Utilize jQuery, AJAX and JSON objects for data interchange.

Prepare your contract web developer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your contract web developer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a contract web developer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable contract web developer resume templates

Build a professional contract web developer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your contract web developer resume.