Where the money is
In 1998, the Park Ridge, Ill.-based Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA) released the results of its first member salary survey. The survey results satisfied a dire need within the IT/GIS industry for a comprehensive resource regarding compensation averages.
To keep that information current, the organization used an online survey to gather information from members and non-members with the goal of updating the 1998 figures. Compared to the first survey, the 300-page Salary Survey for IT/GIS Professionals for 2000 has much more detailed information about technology-related jobs, including job descriptions, education levels and years of experience required for specific job titles. The questionnaire targeted a representative sample of both the IT and GIS communities.
Where do they work?
The survey attracted 837 responses from IT/GIS professionals throughout the United States and Canada. The southern region — which includes Florida, West Virginia, Texas, Oklahoma and Puerto Rico — comprised the largest percentage (38.2) of responses. The northeast region — which includes Washington, D.C.; Massachusetts; Maine; and Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, Canada — made up 13.3 percent of the responses.
Most respondents (76.9 percent) were government employees. One-half of survey respondents worked in municipal (26.5 percent) or county (23.5 percent) government. The average population of respondents’ government jurisdictions was about 275,000. Another 18.4 percent were employed in the private sector.
Most respondents (54.4 percent) worked in GIS departments, while others worked in a variety of departments, including planning, MIS/IS, engineering, public works, public safety, transportation and finance/administration.
Who are they?
Survey respondents had an average of 12.8 years of professional experience and 7.4 years of GIS professional experience. They worked, on average, 43.2 hours a week, with nearly one-half (47.2 percent) working a 40-hour week.
Most (85.7 percent) respondents held a bachelor’s degree or higher, with four out of 10 (40.2 percent) respondents earning a postgraduate degree. Most often, their educational degrees were in geography (42.1 percent), GIS (19.2 percent), planning (16.5 percent), engineering (10.9 percent) or computer science (10.8 percent). More than two-thirds (68.7 percent) of the respondents were male, and the average age was 38.2 years.
What computer skills do they need?
Respondents’ jobs required them to be somewhat proficient with a variety of GIS software. Mirroring recent software industry market studies, ArcView (88 percent) and ArcInfo (79.3 percent) by Redlands, Calif.-based ESRI were the most popular GIS software programs used by respondents, followed by AutoCAD (47.3 percent) by San Rafael, Calif.-based Autodesk.
Access (81.8 percent) and Excel (77.5 percent) by Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft were the most frequently used database management or spreadsheet programs. More than one-half of survey respondents used the following programming/customization languages in their jobs: Avenue (59.5 percent), Arc Macro Language (AML) (57.1 percent) and Visual Basic (52.4 percent). An overwhelming majority (85.9 percent) used the Microsoft Windows NT operating system.
Project management, report writing, technical support and teaching/training skills were required by respondents in their jobs. Skills varied greatly by job title. Directors and managers were more likely to be involved with report writing, public speaking and personnel management; analysts and technicians were more involved with technical support.
What are their salaries and benefits?
The average annual salary for all survey respondents was $49,258 in the year 2000. A majority of organizations offered additional forms of compensation, including paid conference attendance, training, retirement plans, membership dues in professional organizations, college tuition reimbursement and 401(k) plans.
Respondents’ salaries depended on their educational background. Those who had earned high school diplomas made an average of $37,000 for all job titles and levels of experience. Respondents who graduated from college with Bachelor’s degrees averaged $47,704. Respondents who had obtained Master’s degrees averaged $53,729, and those with Doctorate degrees averaged $60,156.
As individuals with advanced education earn higher salaries, so did individuals with several years of professional experience. Starting salaries averaged $32,500, increasing to $45,171 with five years experience. After 15 years in the industry, respondents earned an average of $55,809.
The average salary for respondents working for municipal governments ($47,759) was lower than the average for all respondents. However, municipal salaries varied greatly by region. Respondents who worked in cities in western states reported an average salary of $53,095, and municipal respondents in southern states had the lowest average regional salary at $42,808.
Respondents employed by county governments made $46,452 on average. While municipal employees in the South earned less than their counterparts in other parts of the country, county employees in the South averaged higher salaries ($48,294) than their counterparts in other regions. Respondents who worked for midwestern counties had the lowest average salaries ($42,442).
Directors of Information Systems/Chief Information Officers (2.2 percent of respondents) garnered the highest salaries of all respondents. The position requires a significant amount of experience and training in a wide range of information technology applications. A Master’s degree is often a standard requirement.
The average CIO salary for all respondents was $72,857, and CIOs had at least five to nine years of professional experience. CIOs in municipal government had an average salary of $67,857; those in county government averaged $73,000.
At the other end of the pay scale and the organizational hierarchy, GIS technicians (4.8 percent of all respondents) earned an average salary of $30,962. Most of the duties assigned to them are routine, involving heavy amounts of database entry and management as well as generation of maps and plats from that data.
If any position in GIS were designed for the recent college graduate or novice in the field, it would be the position of technician. Technicians in county governments made $32,273 on average, and those in municipal governments earned $30,714.
The largest percentage of survey respondents (21.5 percent) held the title of GIS manager, a position responsible for balancing technical skills and administrative knowledge to ensure that technology is being used properly and efficiently. GIS managers have a working knowledge of their agencies’ databases and software and must have project oversight and staff supervision skills, a technical background and the skills to ensure project completion.
GIS managers in the private and public sectors made average salaries of $54,091. Managers working in the western region were paid the highest average salaries at $59,722, and those in the Midwest averaged the lowest salaries at $47,813 a year. GIS managers working for municipal governments made slightly lower salaries than the average at $53,462, and GIS managers working for county governments had average salaries of $51,923.
IT/IS managers (2.4 percent of all respondents) supervise computer operations, technical support, systems analysis and programming. They must have a firm grasp on information technologies and also be comfortable with administrative tasks. Having at least five to nine years of experience, IT/IS managers in the private and public sectors earned average salaries of $57,850. Those who work for municipal governments made slightly more ($60,000) than the average for all IT/IS managers. County government IT/IS managers averaged $55,000 a year.
IT/IS systems software analysts/programmers (1.3 percent of all respondents) analyze, design, code, test and document mainframe computer system software. They are responsible for analyzing user hardware and software needs and recommending upgrades or new purchases. Their average salary was $52,778.
Numerous cross-tabulations of the salary data are included in the 2000 Salary Survey. URISA’s Publications Committee plans to conduct the salary survey every two years to monitor the growing field of IT and GIS. For more information about the Salary Survey or to order a copy, visit the URISA Web site at www.urisa.org, or call the organization at (847) 824-6300. The cost is $49 per copy for URISA members and $69 for nonmembers.
Wendy Francis is director of marketing for URISA.
