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Job outlook for technical team leads in the United States
Technical team lead job growth summary. After extensive research, interviews, and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
The projected technical team lead job growth rate is 10% from 2018-2028.
About 83,100 new jobs for technical team leads are projected over the next decade.
Technical team lead salaries have increased 9% for technical team leads in the last 5 years.
There are over 79,250 technical team leads currently employed in the United States.
There are 254,215 active technical team lead job openings in the US.
The average technical team lead salary is $90,219.
Are technical team lead jobs in demand?
Technical team lead job and salary trends over time
Technical team lead jobs over time
Technical team lead job growth rate over time
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 79,250 | 0.02% |
| 2020 | 134,049 | 0.04% |
| 2019 | 68,474 | 0.02% |
| 2018 | 93,104 | 0.03% |
| 2017 | 92,014 | 0.03% |
Average technical team lead salary over time
Technical team lead salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $90,219 | $43.37 | +3.4% |
| 2024 | $87,246 | $41.95 | +2.3% |
| 2023 | $85,271 | $41.00 | +1.5% |
| 2022 | $83,983 | $40.38 | +1.7% |
| 2021 | $82,611 | $39.72 | +1.6% |
Technical team lead jobs by state
Most common states for technical team leads
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | 693,972 | 602 | 87% |
| 2 | Alaska | 739,795 | 286 | 39% |
| 3 | Montana | 1,050,493 | 387 | 37% |
| 4 | Minnesota | 5,576,606 | 1,986 | 36% |
| 5 | Delaware | 961,939 | 334 | 35% |
| 6 | Utah | 3,101,833 | 1,026 | 33% |
| 7 | South Dakota | 869,666 | 289 | 33% |
| 8 | Wyoming | 579,315 | 194 | 33% |
| 9 | Colorado | 5,607,154 | 1,741 | 31% |
| 10 | North Dakota | 755,393 | 237 | 31% |
| 11 | Vermont | 623,657 | 195 | 31% |
| 12 | Kansas | 2,913,123 | 849 | 29% |
| 13 | Nebraska | 1,920,076 | 560 | 29% |
| 14 | Illinois | 12,802,023 | 3,469 | 27% |
| 15 | Arkansas | 3,004,279 | 810 | 27% |
| 16 | New Hampshire | 1,342,795 | 361 | 27% |
| 17 | Connecticut | 3,588,184 | 924 | 26% |
| 18 | New Mexico | 2,088,070 | 520 | 25% |
| 19 | Idaho | 1,716,943 | 430 | 25% |
| 20 | Maryland | 6,052,177 | 1,482 | 24% |
Most common cities for technical team leads
| Rank | City | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl | Avg. salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jeffersonville | 2 | 4% | $83,243 |
| 2 | Bethesda | 2 | 3% | $105,010 |
| 3 | Wilmington | 2 | 3% | $96,008 |
| 4 | Huntsville | 3 | 2% | $90,415 |
| 5 | Chandler | 2 | 1% | $81,585 |
| 6 | Grand Rapids | 2 | 1% | $94,953 |
| 7 | Tampa | 2 | 1% | $78,989 |
| 8 | Phoenix | 3 | 0% | $81,877 |
| 9 | Washington | 3 | 0% | $100,187 |
| 10 | Chicago | 2 | 0% | $84,404 |
| 11 | Indianapolis | 2 | 0% | $84,386 |
| 12 | Jacksonville | 2 | 0% | $78,076 |
| 13 | Milwaukee | 2 | 0% | $82,785 |
| 14 | Atlanta | 1 | 0% | $82,111 |
| 15 | Aurora | 1 | 0% | $75,655 |
| 16 | Boston | 1 | 0% | $93,437 |
Technical Team Lead job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of technical team lead experts
Duke University
Drake University
Lorain County Community College
American Defence Group
Franklin and Marshall College
Columbia International University
Temple University
What general advice would you give to a Technical Team Lead?
Dr. Neil Eldin PhD, PE: Things don’t just happen. You must develop a career plan to maximize your salary potential when starting your career. Find the right employer for yourself. For example, if you are mobile and willing to travel, target employers with international projects. After working for a few years, you can request a transfer to an overseas assignment, and this will instantaneously almost double your salary. If you are not mobile and your circumstances do not allow your travel, seek employment with major corporations and seek positions that are done at the home office (e.g., estimating, procurement, and contracting).
What Technical Team Lead skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Dr. Neil Eldin PhD, PE: Start on the right foot!! Start your career with the attitude that you need to give your job serious attention to build your technical skills, your people skills, and to establish a good name for yourself in the industry. Make sure you become known as a smart, hardworking person with high morals. Your technical skills will contribute half of your success. The other half you will get from learning how to sell your services. Focus on what the employers’ interests are. Explain how you can contribute to what is important to them. If you do not have what is important to them, go develop such skills.
What will help Technical Team Leads increase their earning potential?
Dr. Neil Eldin PhD, PE: Technology has always been a game changer and those who are good at it position themselves in high demands. Keeping up with the new technologies related to whatever your specialty is will help you tremendously. AI looks like the future’s big thing, and I believe it is here to stay. Developing skills in this field will be highly recommended.
Michael Munger
Director of Undergraduate Studies, Director, PPE ProgramDuke University
Department of Political Science
What skills stand out on Technical Team Lead resumes?
Michael Munger: Political science is an ancient career synergy, one that explores the connections between ethical considerations and engineering policy that works. Someone who majors in Political Science is able to make arguments about the questions that have plagued philosophers for thousands of years while using the latest data techniques to scrape online sources of information on social media. So political science instructors have to combine ethics, knowledge of esoteric procedures and laws, and statistics!
What general advice would you give to a Technical Team Lead?
Alanah Mitchell Ph.D.: I recommend students work on developing a portfolio of technology knowledge, skills, and tools. Early project and internship experiences can also be very helpful in finding the first career opportunity after graduation.
What Technical Team Lead skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Alanah Mitchell Ph.D.: Expertise in the area of AI is of great interest right now as well as other technical areas (e.g., analytics, cybersecurity, technology consulting, the metaverse, and more). Of course, I always recommend students focus on developing their adaptability and ability to learn new technical subjects, critical thinking and analytical skills, collaboration skills and the ability to work in a team, project management and detail-oriented skills, and written and oral communication abilities.
Tammy Bosley Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Program Coordinator for Communication StudiesLorain County Community College
Arts & Humanities Division
What are the biggest trends we'll see in the Technical Team Lead job market given the pandemic?
Tammy Bosley Ph.D.: I think that many employees will continue to work from home post-pandemic. During COVID-19, people worked effectively at home, and in many instances, were more productive than when they were physically at the office. Employers will likely consider if they should pay for office space when their employees can do their jobs at home. If the traditional office space does become obsolete, employees will have to reimagine their home offices to promote a professional environment for digital platforms. They'll also have to work harder at making connections with others. High tech requires high touch. In other words, when we rely on computer-mediated communication, we need to interact more to establish relationships. Improving and maintaining digital communication skills will be essential as employees navigate their post-pandemic careers.
What type of skills will young Technical Team Leads need?
Randy Shearer: Business fundamentals; critical thinking skills; comfortable in the digital space; cost principles is a plus; general accounting.
Dr. Stephanie McNulty Ph.D.
Chair and Associate Professor of GovernmentFranklin and Marshall College
Government Department
What type of skills will young Technical Team Leads need?
Dr. Stephanie McNulty Ph.D.: I expect that many of the same skills employers have always sought out will continue to be necessary. These include strong communication skills, working independently and in teams, and the ability to think critically about complex issues and solve complex problems. As a result of the pandemic and ongoing global trends, a strong understanding of and using new or innovative technology to do all of these things is essential. I expect this to continue into the coming years. As the economy shrinks, strong networking skills are also as vital as ever, and I do not wish to change.
Dr. Brian Simmons
Associate ProvostColumbia International University
School of Education and the School of Business and Professional Studies
What experience really stands out on Technical Team Lead resumes?
Dr. Brian Simmons: The context you mentioned was "starting a career with a leadership degree." Here at Columbia International University, we offer several graduate leadership degrees, including a Masters in Organizational Leadership and a Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership. These degrees are designed with working adults in mind. Many of these working adults are already leaders in their respective fields, looking for new places of service and advancement opportunities in their current employment places. So, work experience without gaps is essential on a resume. Also, course work and degree programs that teach practical skills aligned with job responsibilities in the world of work will benefit these degree programs' grads because you do not know what you do not know! Finally, high GPAs in these degree programs will set the best and brightest high performing students apart from the rest.
What Technical Team Lead skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Dr. Brian Simmons: I would not think so much in terms of "skills to enhance" but rather experiences that will add depth of insight and understanding. Candidates with a variety of practical experiences, coupled with rigorous academic training, are set apart from others.
What type of skills will young Technical Team Leads need?
Elizabeth Gordon: Preparing accounting students for their future means focusing their education on developing their critical thinking, decision making, and judgment, and truly thinking like an accountant requires critical thinking skills to be able to make judgments, to create and to use the information to solve problems and make good decisions. After all, accounting is not about rote memorization or data processing - tasks that do not require a university education. A university accounting education should foster curious and adaptive problem solvers with strong analytical skills and technical knowledge of accounting.