For the last five years, Dr. Dobb's and InformationWeek have run one of the largest independent salary surveys of U.S. developers and their managers. As shown in the following slides, the conclusion we can draw from this year's survey is that salary increases have (by and large) matched or beaten inflation during the last year. The variations in compensation follow established patterns: Developers who are male, middle-aged, and working at large firms on the coasts tend to fare best. Developers in the South or Midwest, newbies, and women in any location tend to do less well, although software development is still a well-paying field for everyone.

The devil is in the details, so let's have a look…