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The differences between lead web 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 lead web developer and a contract developer. Additionally, a lead web developer has an average salary of $108,800, which is higher than the $91,433 average annual salary of a contract developer.
The top three skills for a lead web developer include web application, javascript and CSS. The most important skills for a contract developer are C++, javascript, and java.
| Lead Web Developer | Contract Developer | |
| Yearly salary | $108,800 | $91,433 |
| Hourly rate | $52.31 | $43.96 |
| Growth rate | 13% | 21% |
| Number of jobs | 250,411 | 249,808 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Average age | 37 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A lead web developer is in charge of spearheading the development of web applications and systems. In a company setting, their responsibilities include managing a team of developers, identifying and understanding project requirements, heading the planning and execution stages, setting objectives and timelines, establishing guidelines, delegating tasks, and providing technical support and guidance to staff. They must also respond to issues and concerns, resolving them promptly and efficiently. Moreover, being the lead web developer, they must encourage teams to reach goals, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
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.
Lead web developers and contract developers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Lead Web Developer | Contract Developer | |
| Average salary | $108,800 | $91,433 |
| Salary range | Between $84,000 And $140,000 | Between $67,000 And $123,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | California |
| Best paying company | First Republic Bank | Avanade |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Finance |
There are a few differences between a lead web developer and a contract developer in terms of educational background:
| Lead Web Developer | Contract Developer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | 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 lead web developers' and contract developers' demographics:
| Lead Web Developer | Contract Developer | |
| Average age | 37 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 81.3% Female, 18.7% | Male, 71.5% Female, 28.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.6% Unknown, 6.5% Hispanic or Latino, 12.2% Asian, 15.7% White, 58.5% 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% |