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The differences between software engineers lead and associate software engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a software engineer lead and an associate software engineer. Additionally, a software engineer lead has an average salary of $125,565, which is higher than the $78,981 average annual salary of an associate software engineer.
The top three skills for a software engineer lead include java, python and software development. The most important skills for an associate software engineer are java, python, and C++.
| Software Engineer Lead | Associate Software Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $125,565 | $78,981 |
| Hourly rate | $60.37 | $37.97 |
| Growth rate | 21% | 21% |
| Number of jobs | 342,462 | 298,481 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 69% | Bachelor's Degree, 80% |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A Software Engineer Lead is focused on developing and testing software programs. They manage a team of software engineers that design enterprise software products and operating systems.
An associate software engineer is an individual who is responsible for improving existing software or designing new application software. Working under the supervision of a senior software engineer and together with a team of engineering professionals, associate software engineers must be able to code software and ensure that it can run with different types of technology. They must have the technical knowledge and expertise of commanding programming languages such as JAVA, HTML, and CSS. Associate software engineers are also required to assist the QA team in testing the software before it is released to the customers.
Software engineers lead and associate software engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Software Engineer Lead | Associate Software Engineer | |
| Average salary | $125,565 | $78,981 |
| Salary range | Between $93,000 And $168,000 | Between $60,000 And $102,000 |
| Highest paying City | Seattle, WA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Meta | JPMorgan Chase & Co. |
| Best paying industry | Automotive | Finance |
There are a few differences between a software engineer lead and an associate software engineer in terms of educational background:
| Software Engineer Lead | Associate Software Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 69% | Bachelor's Degree, 80% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Harvard University | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between software engineers lead' and associate software engineers' demographics:
| Software Engineer Lead | Associate Software Engineer | |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 86.7% Female, 13.3% | Male, 67.3% Female, 32.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.5% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 8.3% Asian, 29.9% White, 52.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 4.0% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 7.7% Asian, 39.6% White, 43.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 8% | 8% |