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The differences between engineering programmers and contract programmers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-8 years to become both an engineering programmer and a contract programmer. Additionally, an engineering programmer has an average salary of $95,776, which is higher than the $80,027 average annual salary of a contract programmer.
The top three skills for an engineering programmer include C++, troubleshoot and PC. The most important skills for a contract programmer are microsoft sql server, C++, and web application.
| Engineering Programmer | Contract Programmer | |
| Yearly salary | $95,776 | $80,027 |
| Hourly rate | $46.05 | $38.47 |
| Growth rate | -7% | -7% |
| Number of jobs | 245,309 | 199,998 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 8 | 8 |
Running programs on a computer is tough to understand, so an engineering programmer's expertise is needed. They often work alongside software programmers to improve their works, apply their creations and run them on the computer. They assist computer programmers in creating a software program to locate, store, secure, and retrieve data and design software solutions for future computer difficulties. In a company, they can be part of the team that handles customer complaints online and run software to work with it, or they can provide software that oversees staffs' work ethics.
A Contract Programmer writes computer code used in software applications. They work by the project or by the job on a contract basis, rather than as full-time employees of a company.
Engineering programmers and contract programmers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Engineering Programmer | Contract Programmer | |
| Average salary | $95,776 | $80,027 |
| Salary range | Between $66,000 And $138,000 | Between $60,000 And $104,000 |
| Highest paying City | Novato, CA | - |
| Highest paying state | California | - |
| Best paying company | Meta | - |
| Best paying industry | Technology | - |
There are a few differences between an engineering programmer and a contract programmer in terms of educational background:
| Engineering Programmer | Contract Programmer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Computer Science |
| Most common college | California State University - Long Beach | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between engineering programmers' and contract programmers' demographics:
| Engineering Programmer | Contract Programmer | |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 83.2% Female, 16.8% | Male, 84.9% Female, 15.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 5.1% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 9.0% Asian, 14.9% White, 66.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 5.1% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 9.0% Asian, 14.9% White, 66.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |