1987 Computer Salary Survey

After graduating from college, I set out on the job hunt. One of the companies interviewing me at the time was Source EDP Personnel Services. Source EDP provided IT consulting services, and billed themselves as “the world’s largest recruiting firm devoted exclusively to the computer profession”. As part of their offering, they shared their 1987 Computer Salary Survey and Career Planning Guide. After I got the another offer, I stuck the salary survey in a file, where it stayed until last week.

The first graphic image in the publication is of a stack of greenbar paper with large dollar signs in ASCII art.  But, even though the data is old, it can still offer a useful comparison to today’s technology salaries. We’ve come  a long way!

Here’s the meat of the survey for non-management positions:

I. Non-Management	Annual Compensation ($000)
(salary according to length of time in the profession)	15th Percentile	Median	85th Percentile
Commercial Programmers & Programmer/Analysts
1 year – 2 years	18.5	22.5	26.5
2 years – 5 years	23.5	27.8	32.0
Over 5 years	28.0	33.0	39.0
Engineering/Scientific Programmers & Programmer/Analysts
1 year – 2 years	19.6	25.0	28.5
2 years – 5 years	25.5	30.0	35.0
Over 5 years	31.0	38.0	46.0
Personal Computer/Microprocessor Programmers & Analysts
1 year – 2 years	18.0	22.0	27.0
2 years – 5 years	22.0	28.0	33.0
Over 5 years	28.4	35.0	42.0
Systems (Software) Programmers
1 year – 2 years	23.4	27.2	31.0
2 years – 5 years	27.7	33.0	37.5
5 years – 7 years	32.0	38.0	45.0
Over 7 years	36.0	42.0	50.0
Software Engineers
1 year – 2 years	22.0	27.0	30.1
2 years – 5 years	27.5	32.	37.0
5 years – 7 years	31.5	38.0	44.0
Over 7 years	37.2	44.5	53.1
Data Base Analysts/Data Management Specialists
1 year – 2 years	22.0	26.0	31.5
2 years – 5 years	26.0	35.0	42.0
5 years – 7 years	34.0	40.0	48.2
Over 7 years	37.2	44.5	53.1
Communications Analysts/Technical Specialists
1 year – 2 years	22.0	26.0	30.0
2 years – 5 years	28.9	37.0	47.0
Over 5 years	33.6	43.0	51.2
Information Center/Office Automation/Decision Support Specialists
1 year – 2 years	18.5	24.1	27.1
2 years – 5 years	23.5	30.0	36.0
Over 5 years	29.5	37.5	45.0
EDP Auditors
1 year – 2 years	22.0	25.0	29.0
2 years – 5 years	26.5	31.0	37.3
5 years – 7 years	30.7	36.0	46.2
Over 7 years	35.0	42.0	51.0
Technical Writers & Editors
1 year – 2 years	17.5	1100	27.5
2 years – 5 years	23.0	28.0	33.0
5 years – 7 years	26.0	31.0	38.0
Over 7 years	27.0	34.0	41.0
Senior Analysts, Project Leaders & Consultants
2 years – 5 years	27.0	33.0	39.6
5 years – 7 years	32.5	37.7	44.5
Over 7 years	36.0	42.0	50.0
Computer Operators
1 year – 2 years	14.0	18.0	20.0
2 years – 5 years	17.0	21.0	25.0
Over 5 years	20.0	25.6	31.5

Source EDP was purchased by Romac International, and later became Kforce Technology Staffing. Kforce still offers a salary survey and career guide. Download the latest version in PDF format from here.
http://www.kforce.com/files/documents/2008_Tech_Job_Seeker_SS.pdf