Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between senior 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 senior web developer and a contract developer. Additionally, a senior web developer has an average salary of $97,916, which is higher than the $91,433 average annual salary of a contract developer.
The top three skills for a senior web developer include javascript, web application and CSS. The most important skills for a contract developer are C++, javascript, and java.
| Senior Web Developer | Contract Developer | |
| Yearly salary | $97,916 | $91,433 |
| Hourly rate | $47.08 | $43.96 |
| Growth rate | 13% | 21% |
| Number of jobs | 239,535 | 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 senior web developer is responsible for designing, building, and optimizing websites and other software applications. You are expected to perform a few tasks that include identifying client specifications and user requirements, working closely with teams and clients, and testing and documenting software for websites. Other duties include writing, modifying, and debugging websites, keeping up-to-date with the latest social marketing trends, and supervising junior web developers. You will also be responsible for writing code to create web pages and to work closely with mobile developers.
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.
Senior web developers and contract developers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Web Developer | Contract Developer | |
| Average salary | $97,916 | $91,433 |
| Salary range | Between $74,000 And $127,000 | Between $67,000 And $123,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Mateo, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Pacific Investment Management Company LLC | Avanade |
| Best paying industry | Media | Finance |
There are a few differences between a senior web developer and a contract developer in terms of educational background:
| Senior 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 senior web developers' and contract developers' demographics:
| Senior Web Developer | Contract Developer | |
| Average age | 37 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 81.5% Female, 18.5% | Male, 71.5% Female, 28.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.5% Unknown, 6.5% Hispanic or Latino, 12.0% Asian, 16.0% 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% |