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The differences between senior programmers and applications programmers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-8 years to become both a senior programmer and an applications programmer. Additionally, a senior programmer has an average salary of $105,509, which is higher than the $85,133 average annual salary of an applications programmer.
The top three skills for a senior programmer include macro, SAS and database. The most important skills for an applications programmer are java, C++, and database.
| Senior Programmer | Applications Programmer | |
| Yearly salary | $105,509 | $85,133 |
| Hourly rate | $50.73 | $40.93 |
| Growth rate | -7% | -7% |
| Number of jobs | 209,882 | 215,240 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 70% | Bachelor's Degree, 69% |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 8 | 8 |
A Senior Programmer develops operations solutions through guiding the development of program specifications and leading programmers. They develop, test, and implement IT solutions.
An application programmer is responsible for creating and designing computer systems and applications according to client specifications and business requirements. Application programmers run quality checks on the draft outputs to ensure its stability and efficiency for high-level performance. They also evaluate existing applications and recommend technical solutions to improve scalability. An application programmer must have excellent technical skills with a strong command of programming languages and system codes to determine the feasibility of applications and adjust features as needed.
Senior programmers and applications programmers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Programmer | Applications Programmer | |
| Average salary | $105,509 | $85,133 |
| Salary range | Between $78,000 And $141,000 | Between $64,000 And $112,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | Washington |
| Best paying company | Cornerstone Research | Dropbox |
| Best paying industry | Pharmaceutical | Finance |
There are a few differences between a senior programmer and an applications programmer in terms of educational background:
| Senior Programmer | Applications Programmer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 70% | Bachelor's Degree, 69% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between senior programmers' and applications programmers' demographics:
| Senior Programmer | Applications Programmer | |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 81.0% Female, 19.0% | Male, 74.6% Female, 25.4% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.8% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 8.4% Asian, 19.2% White, 62.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 4.9% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 8.6% Asian, 16.4% White, 65.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |