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The differences between front end developers and contract developers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a front end developer and a contract developer. Additionally, a front end developer has an average salary of $92,147, which is higher than the $91,433 average annual salary of a contract developer.
The top three skills for a front end developer include javascript, front-end and html css. The most important skills for a contract developer are C++, javascript, and java.
| Front End Developer | Contract Developer | |
| Yearly salary | $92,147 | $91,433 |
| Hourly rate | $44.30 | $43.96 |
| Growth rate | 13% | 21% |
| Number of jobs | 124,876 | 249,808 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Average age | 37 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
Front-end developers architect and develop applications and websites through web technologies. They are responsible for the implementation of visual elements that every user sees and interacts with on web applications. They are often supported by the back-end web developers who are in charge of server application logic and integration. They must know CSS or HTML. They should be equipped with CSS processing skills, browser developer tools, version control, JavaScript framework, and responsive design skills.
Contract Developers develop secure web applications for data collections, quality measurement efforts, and reporting purposes for large-scale performance, wireframes and UI specifications for interactive and static reporting and analysis features, and developing UI to interact with reporting engines. They are involved with system design and technical documentation and responsible for dot net development. In this position, contract developers must excellent in problem-solving, analytical skills and attention to detail, display and manipulate performance metrics, and highly confident dealing with internal and external clients.
Front end developers and contract developers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Front End Developer | Contract Developer | |
| Average salary | $92,147 | $91,433 |
| Salary range | Between $68,000 And $124,000 | Between $67,000 And $123,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Lifetime | Avanade |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Finance |
There are a few differences between a front end developer and a contract developer in terms of educational background:
| Front End Developer | Contract Developer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between front end developers' and contract developers' demographics:
| Front End Developer | Contract Developer | |
| Average age | 37 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 77.3% Female, 22.7% | Male, 71.5% Female, 28.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.4% Unknown, 6.5% Hispanic or Latino, 12.0% Asian, 15.8% White, 58.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 4.4% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 8.1% Asian, 27.8% White, 54.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 8% |