Web Development Degree & Career Guide

Individuals can advance their web development careers with an associate degree, which prepares graduates for various applied positions. An associate degree can also serve as a stepping stone to a bachelor's degree, which exposes students to mobile programming, cybersecurity, and various coding languages. A higher-level leadership role, like an information systems manager, might require a master’s degree.

Depending on the position, virtually anyone can work as a web developer with the proper training or education. While some professionals can find employment with a high school diploma, others might pursue postsecondary education to expand their employment opportunities and earning potential.

What constitutes the best web development job often depends on your career goals. However, the highest-paying web development role is a software engineer. These professionals earned an average annual salary of $105,310 in 2020.

The demand for professionals in website design and management continues to grow. However, web development degrees can provide opportunities to pursue other positions that allow individuals to code, develop software, work with multimedia, and do other computer-related jobs.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), web developers and digital designers made a median salary of $77,200 in 2020, compared to $91,250 for all computer jobs and $41,950 for all other occupations. The top 10% earners in web development earned a median of $146,430, and web professionals in publishing made $123,870.

However, how much you earn as a web developer depends on your work experience, educational background, and geographical location.

Web development jobs tend to provide competitive salaries compared to many occupations in other industries. For example, the BLS reports that software and web developers earned a median wage of $105,310 in 2020, compared to $41,950 for all occupations.

Web development professionals who hold managerial or leadership positions generally earn higher salaries. For example, according to the BLS, computer and information systems managers made a median salary of $159,010 in 2020.

All web developers should acquire expertise in HTML programming. Job seekers will also benefit from learning other programming languages like JavaScript or SQL and gaining skills in multimedia publishing.

Some web developers obtain work right out of high school, while others hold bachelor's and master's degrees. However, some companies need professionals with specialties like programming or computer science, which usually require at least a bachelor's degree. Regardless of education, web developers need to go through continuous training to keep up with technological advances in their field.