Software engineering demographics

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Software engineers form a noticeable part of the workforce around the world. There are an estimated 26.9 million professional software engineers in the world as of 2022, up from 21 million in 2016.[1][2]

By country[edit]

United States[edit]

In 2022, there were an estimated 4.4 million professional software engineers in North America. There are 152 million people employed in the US workforce, making software engineers 2.54% of the total workforce.[1][2][3] The total above is an increase compared to around 3.87 million software engineers employed in 2016.

Summary[edit]

Based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics from 2002, about 612,000 software engineers worked in the U.S. – about one out of every 200 workers. There were 55% to 60% as many software engineers as all traditional engineers. This comparison holds whether one compares the number of practitioners, managers, educators, or technicians/programmers. Software engineering had 612,000 practitioners; 264,790 managers, 16,495 educators, and 457,320 programmers.

Role # SE Title # TE Title Ratio of SE to TE
Practitioners 611,900 Software Engineers 1,157,020 Traditional Engineers 53%
Managers 264,790 Computer and Information Systems Managers 413,750 Engineering Managers + Construction Managers 64%
Educators 16,495 Computer Science (practical) 29,310 Engineering Teachers 56%
Technicians 457,320 Computer Programmers 516,170 Engineering Technicians 88%

[4][5][6][7]

Software engineers vs. traditional engineers[edit]

The following two tables compare the number of software engineers (611,900 in 2002) versus the number of traditional engineers (1,157,020 in 2002).

There are another 1,500,000 people in system analysis, system administration, and computer support, many of whom might be called software engineers. Many systems analysts manage software development teams and analysis is an important software engineering role, so many of them might be considered software engineers in the near future. This means that the number of software engineers may actually be much higher.

It is important to note that the number of software engineers declined by 5-to-10 percent from 2000 to 2002.

Code Description Number

(2002)

Hourly pay

(2002)

Annual salary

(2002)

Number

(2021)

Mean Hourly pay

(2021)

Mean Annual salary

(2021)

15-1031 Software Eng., Applications 356,760 $34.09 $35.48 $73,800 0.7 %
15-1032 Software Eng., Systems Software 255,040 $35.60 $36.46 $75,840 0.6 %
17-2011 Aerospace Engineers[8] 74,210 $34.97 $35.63 $74,110 1.1 % 56,640 $ 59.12 $ 122,970
17-2021 Agricultural Engineers[9] 2,500 $24.38 $26.79 $55,730 2.9 % 1,120 $ 41.99 $ 87,350
17-2031 Biomedical Engineers[10] 7,130 $29.04 $30.97 $64,420 1.7 % 17,190 $ 48.57 $ 101,020
17-2041 Chemical Engineers[11] 32,110 $34.85 $36.06 $75,010 1.0 % 24,180 $ 58.58 $ 121,840
17-2051 Civil Engineers[12] 207,480 $28.88 $30.29 $63,010 0.4 % 304,310 $ 45.91 $ 95,490
17-2061 Computer Hardware Engineers[13] 67,180 $34.69 $36.61 $76,150 1.1 % 73,750 $ 65.50 $ 136,230
17-2071 Electrical Engineers[14] 146,180 $32.78 $33.88 $70,480 0.4 % 186,020 $ 51.87 $ 107,890
17-2072 Electronics Eng., Exc. Computer[15] 126,020 $33.62 $34.43 $71,600 0.6 % 107,170 $ 55.53 $ 115,490
17-2081 Environmental Engineers[16] 45,720 $29.52 $30.50 $63,440 0.7 % 42,660 $ 48.18 $ 100,220
17-2111 Health and Safety, Exc. Mining[17] 34,160 $27.89 $28.77 $59,830 0.7 % 22,870 $ 47.93 $ 99,700
17-2112 Industrial Engineers[18] 151,760 $29.88 $30.57 $63,590 0.3 % 293,950 $ 45.77 $ 95,200
17-2121 Marine Eng., Naval Architects[19] 4,810 $32.04 $32.83 $68,280 2.2 % 7,380 $ 47.03 $ 97,820
17-2131 Materials Engineers[20] 22,780 $30.09 $30.92 $64,310 1.0 % 21,530 $ 49.02 $ 101,950
17-2141 Mechanical Engineers[21] 203,620 $30.23 $31.33 $65,170 0.4 % 278,240 $ 46.64 $ 97,000
17-2151 Mining and Geological Eng.[22] 5,050 $29.70 $31.14 $64,770 2.4 % 7,370 $ 48.29 $ 100,450
17-2161 Nuclear Engineers[23] 15,180 $39.11 $39.57 $82,300 1.3 % 12,670 $ 58.54 $ 121,760
17-2171 Petroleum Engineers[24] 11,130 $40.08 $41.13 $85,540 1.4 % 22,100 $ 70.06 $ 145,720

Computer managers vs. construction and engineering managers[edit]

Computer and information system managers (264,790) manage software projects, as well as computer operations. Similarly, Construction and engineering managers (413,750) oversee engineering projects, manufacturing plants, and construction sites. Computer management is 64% the size of construction and engineering management.

Code Description Number Hourly pay Annual salary
11-3021 Computer and Information Systems Managers 264,790 $40.98 $43.48 $90,440 0.3%
11-9021 Construction Managers 208,360 $30.53 $34.24 $71,210 0.7%
11-9041 Engineering Managers 205,390 $43.71 $46.03 $95,750 0.3%

[citation needed]

Software engineering educators vs. engineering educators[edit]

Most people working in the field of computer science, whether making software systems (software engineering) or studying the theoretical and mathematical facts of software systems (computer science), acquire degrees in computer science. The data shows that the combined number of chemistry and physics educators (29,610) nearly equals the number of engineering educators (29,310). It is estimated that roughly half of computer science educators emphasize the practical (software engineering), and the other half emphasize the theoretical (computer science).[citation needed] This means that software engineering education is 56% the size of traditional engineering education. There are more computer science educators than chemistry and physics educators combined, or engineering educators.

Code Description Number Hourly pay Annual salary
25-1021 Computer Science Teachers, Postsecondary 32,990 (4) (4) $55,330 1.1%
25-1032 Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary 29,310 (4) (4) $73,100 1.3%
25-1052 Chemistry Teachers, Postsecondary 17,670 (4) (4) $60,800 1.3%
25-1054 Physics Teachers, Postsecondary 11,940 (4) (4) $66,960 1.0

[citation needed]

Other software and engineering roles[edit]

Code Description Number Hourly pay Annual salary
15-1051 Computer Systems Analysts 467,750 $30.24 $31.20 $64,890 0.5%
15-1041 Computer Support Specialists 478,560 $18.80 $20.35 $42,320 0.5%
15-1061 Database Administrators 102,090 $26.68 $28.41 $59,080 0.5%
15-1071 Network and Computer Systems Administrators 232,560 $26.35 $27.70 $57,620 0.4%
15-1081 Network Systems and Data Communications Analysts 133,460 $28.09 $29.51 $61,390 0.6%
17-3011 Architectural and Civil Drafters 101,190 $17.95 $18.78 $39,060 0.6%
17-3012 Electrical and Electronics Drafters 35,470 $19.76 $21.16 $44,020 0.8%
17-3013 Mechanical Drafters 68,280 $19.58 $20.71 $43,080 0.9%

[citation needed]

Relation to IT demographics[edit]

Software engineers are part of the much larger software, hardware, application, and operations community. In 2000 in the U.S., there were about 680,000 software engineers and about 10,000,000 IT workers.

There are no numbers on testers in the BLS data.[citation needed]

India[edit]

There has been a healthy growth in the number of India's IT professionals over the past few years. From a base of 6,800 knowledge workers in 1985–86, the number increased to 522,000 software and services professionals by the end of 2001–02. It is estimated that out of these 528,000 knowledge workers, almost 170,000 are working in the IT software and services export industry; nearly 106,000 are working in the IT enabled services and over 230,000 in user organizations.[25]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Labs, Qubit (29 November 2022). "How Many Programmers are there in the World and in the US? [2023]". Qubit Labs. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Global Developer Population and Demographic Study 2016 V2". Evans Data Corporation. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
  3. ^ "United States Labor Force Statistics Seasonally Adjusted". Labor Market Information. Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training. October 2016.
  4. ^ "2002 National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates".
  5. ^ "Architecture and Engineering Occupations".
  6. ^ "Computer and Mathematical Science Occupations".
  7. ^ "Management Occupations".
  8. ^ "Aerospace Engineers". www.bls.gov. Retrieved 2022-12-15.
  9. ^ "Agricultural Engineers". www.bls.gov. Retrieved 2022-12-15.
  10. ^ "Bioengineers and Biomedical Engineers". www.bls.gov. Retrieved 2022-12-15.
  11. ^ "Chemical Engineers". www.bls.gov. Retrieved 2022-12-15.
  12. ^ "Civil Engineers". www.bls.gov. Retrieved 2022-12-15.
  13. ^ "Computer Hardware Engineers". www.bls.gov. Retrieved 2022-12-15.
  14. ^ "Electrical Engineers". www.bls.gov. Retrieved 2022-12-15.
  15. ^ "Electronics Engineers, Except Computer". www.bls.gov. Retrieved 2022-12-15.
  16. ^ "Environmental Engineers". www.bls.gov. Retrieved 2022-12-15.
  17. ^ "Health and Safety Engineers, Except Mining Safety Engineers and Inspectors". www.bls.gov. Retrieved 2022-12-15.
  18. ^ "Industrial Engineers". www.bls.gov. Retrieved 2022-12-15.
  19. ^ "Marine Engineers and Naval Architects". www.bls.gov. Retrieved 2022-12-15.
  20. ^ "Materials Engineers". www.bls.gov. Retrieved 2022-12-15.
  21. ^ "Mechanical Engineers". www.bls.gov. Retrieved 2022-12-15.
  22. ^ "Mining and Geological Engineers, Including Mining Safety Engineers". www.bls.gov. Retrieved 2022-12-15.
  23. ^ "Nuclear Engineers". www.bls.gov. Retrieved 2022-12-15.
  24. ^ "Petroleum Engineers". www.bls.gov. Retrieved 2022-12-15.
  25. ^ From Website of the National Association of Software and Service Companies, one of the more authoritative sources of information.