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The differences between systems developers and contract developers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a systems developer, becoming a contract developer takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a systems developer has an average salary of $97,230, which is higher than the $91,433 average annual salary of a contract developer.
The top three skills for a systems developer include java, python and C++. The most important skills for a contract developer are C++, javascript, and java.
| Systems Developer | Contract Developer | |
| Yearly salary | $97,230 | $91,433 |
| Hourly rate | $46.75 | $43.96 |
| Growth rate | 9% | 21% |
| Number of jobs | 322,419 | 249,808 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Average age | 43 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 4 |
A Systems Developer is responsible for designing and creating software applications and server programs to support business requirements and client specifications. System Developers run multiple diagnostic tests to the systems to ensure performance and stability and revise scripts for optimization as needed. They also evaluate and improve existing networks, develop infrastructure, and set configuration. A Systems Developer must have excellent communication and technical skills, as well as a strong command of programming languages and system codes to identify network structures and operating systems.
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.
Systems developers and contract developers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Systems Developer | Contract Developer | |
| Average salary | $97,230 | $91,433 |
| Salary range | Between $73,000 And $129,000 | Between $67,000 And $123,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Massachusetts | California |
| Best paying company | Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld | Avanade |
| Best paying industry | Hospitality | Finance |
There are a few differences between a systems developer and a contract developer in terms of educational background:
| Systems 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 systems developers' and contract developers' demographics:
| Systems Developer | Contract Developer | |
| Average age | 43 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 76.5% Female, 23.5% | Male, 71.5% Female, 28.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.0% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 10.9% Asian, 16.6% White, 57.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | 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 | 8% | 8% |