Pay varies by experience and education of the worker. Pay also varies by the size and type of the company, region of the country, and type of programming. Starting salaries are lower in small companies. Entry-level wages are lowest in government jobs. Programmers who work in the West or Northeast generally earn more than programmers who work in the South and Midwest.
Systems programmers tend to earn more than applications programmers.
There were 7,090 people employed as computer programmers in Indiana in 1998. An additional 1,000 people were employed as computer programmer aides. It is estimated that between 1996 and 2006, about 299 jobs per year for programmers and 28 for programmer aides will need to be filled. These numbers include new jobs and jobs resulting from the replacement of current workers. The computer programmer occupation should grow faster than the average for other occupations in Indiana but no job growth is expected for programmer aides.