Software Director - Chicago, IL - 9 Years
Salary Report
Information Technology Job
Director of
Software Development
United States Location
Chicago - Gary - Kenosha
IL - IN - WI
USA Metropolitan Area
Competitive Position® Salary Report
Data Observed 1/2/25 to 12/31/25
Salary Average
$188,943
Experience Requirement
9 Years
Raise +1 Year
$10,608 at 5.61%
Salary and Number of Jobs
About Salary and Jobs
Salary Range :
At required Experience of 9 Years: $188,943 is Salary average; 50% of Jobs pay between $156,645 & $221,240; and, 5% of Jobs top $267,813.
Number of Jobs :
Most Jobs are available closest to the Salary Average.
Fewer Jobs are available at Lower and Higher Salaries.
Salary End Points :
$26,400 = annual salary at $15 per hour working between: 44 weeks at 40 hours a week, to, 52 weeks at 34 hours a week.
$451,447 = annual salary for the highest paying IT Job in the highest paying US City at the Top 2.5% Experience and Top 2.5% Salary.
Job Market :
Job offers, publicly posted in want ads by employers, were observed and measured from 1/2/25 to 12/31/25.
View: Documentation and Methodology.
Top Salaries
| Top Percentile of Job market | Top Salary |
|---|---|
| 2.5% | $282,987 |
| 5% | $267,813 |
| 10% | $250,353 |
| 25% | $221,240 |
| 33% | $209,345 |
| 50% | $188,943 |
Top Percentile of Job Market =
Number of Jobs Above the Top Salary
÷
Number of all Jobs at 9 Years Experience.
Salary Range and Jobs
Percentage of Jobs within Salary Lows and Highs
| Percent of Job Market | Salary Range | |
|---|---|---|
| Low Salary | High Salary | |
| 10% | $182,927 | $194,958 |
| 25% | $173,688 | $204,197 |
| 33% | $168,540 | $209,345 |
| 50% | $156,645 | $221,240 |
| 67% | $142,283 | $235,602 |
| 95% | $94,899 | $282,987 |
Salary Average =
$188,943
Mid Point between each Low/High pair.
Percent of Job Market =
Number of Jobs with Salary between Low/High pair
÷
Number of all Jobs at 9 Years Experience.
Salary and Experience
Salary ±1 Year
| Experience | Salary Average | Raise +1 Year |
|---|---|---|
| 8 Years | $178,238 | $10,705 at 6.01% |
| 9 Years | $188,943 | $10,608 at 5.61% |
| 10 Years | $199,551 | $10,537 at 5.28% |
About Salary and Experience
Salary by Year :
Salary increases rapidly in the first years, rises vigorously with greater experience and grows robustly into maturity.
Salary Growth Overall :
The increase in Salary average from low to high experience is more than that in the USA IT job market as a whole.
Salary and Experience Range :
Salary average rises with experience: $127,149 at the low experience of 3 Years and 6 Months; $195,141 at the average experience of 9 Years and 7 Months; and, $257,867 at the top experience of 15 Years and 7 Months.
Experience End Points :
0 = Entry Level.
16 Years and 5 Months = Top 2.5% Experience in the IT Job with the highest required experience in the USA.
Job Market :
Job offers, publicly posted in want ads by employers, were observed and measured from 1/2/25 to 12/31/25.
View: Documentation and Methodology.
Salary by Year
| Experience | Salary Average | Raise +1 Year |
|---|---|---|
| 4 Years | $133,287 | $11,764 at 8.83% |
| 5 Years | $145,051 | $11,316 at 7.80% |
| 6 Years | $156,367 | $11,031 at 7.05% |
| 7 Years | $167,398 | $10,840 at 6.48% |
| 8 Years | $178,238 | $10,705 at 6.01% |
| 9 Years | $188,943 | $10,608 at 5.61% |
| 10 Years | $199,551 | $10,537 at 5.28% |
| 11 Years | $210,088 | $10,484 at 4.99% |
| 12 Years | $220,572 | $10,443 at 4.73% |
| 13 Years | $231,015 | $10,412 at 4.51% |
| 14 Years | $241,427 | $10,389 at 4.30% |
| 15 Years | $251,816 | $10,370 at 4.12% |
Salary and Experience Range
95% of Jobs require Experience between the Low and Top
| Experience | Salary Average | Raise +1 Year | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low | 3 Years and 6 Months | $127,149 | $12,090 at 9.51% |
| Average | 9 Years and 7 Months | $195,141 | $10,564 at 5.41% |
| Top | 15 Years and 7 Months | $257,867 | $10,362 at 4.02% |
Qualifications
Description
Directing software development, cost efficient staff leadership optimized from end-user need discovery to model, code, test and deploy, is the position's primary responsibility.
Skills
The qualifications of this information technology Job:
-
- Director of Software (SW) Development,
-
Agile, Application (App), Back End, Big Data, Business Intelligence (BI), Cloud, Customer Resource Management (CRM), Database, Data Management, Data Warehouse, .Net, Embedded, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Front End, Full Stack, Human Resource Information System (HRIS), Human Resource Management System (HRMS), Machine Learning, Mobile, Portal, Software (SW), Supply Chain Management (SCM), User Interface (UI), User Experience (UX) or Web,
and
Chief Information Officer (CIO), Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Director of Information Technology (IT) or Information Technology (IT) Vice President.
Characteristics
A+ Skills
Additional IT skills requested in some job descriptions:
- Project Lead,
- Development Manager, Lead Developer, Project Lead, Project Manager, Project Supervisor, Team Lead, Team Supervisor or Technical Lead,
- 7.9% of job descriptions;
- Master of Arts/Science or Ph.D. Graduate Degree,
- 36.1% of job descriptions;
- Bachelor of Arts/Science Degree,
- 53.1% of job descriptions;
- Financial Sector,
- Asset Management, Banking, Brokerage, Commodity Trading, Derivative Trading, Equity Trading, Finance, Insurance, Investment, Securities Trading, Stock Market or Wall Street,
- 18.2% of job descriptions;
- SQL (Structured Query Language),
- 23.4% of job descriptions;
- Oracle,
- 4.1% of job descriptions;
- Python,
- 19.9% of job descriptions;
- Java,
- 3.1% of job descriptions;
- R statistical software,
- 8.1% of job descriptions;
- Tableau,
- 10.8% of job descriptions;
- Microsoft Azure,
- 12% of job descriptions;
- AWS (Amazon Web Services),
- 17.9% of job descriptions.
Location
Chicago, IL
- Illinois,
- Addison, Arlington Heights, Aurora, Batavia, Barrington, Berwyn, Bollingbrook, Boone, Buffalo Grove, Burbank, Calumet City, Carol Stream, Carpentersville, Chicago Heights, Chicago, Cicero, Cook County, Crystal Lake, De Kalb County, De Kalb, Deerfield, Des Plaines, Downers Grove, DuPage County, East Chicago, Elgin, Elk Grove, Elk Grove Village, Elmhurst, Evanston, Geneva, Glendale Heights, Glenview, Grundy County, Hanover Park, Harvard, Harvey, Highland Park, Hines, Hinsdale, Hoffman Estates, Homewood, Itasca, Joliet, Kane County, Kankakee County, Kendall County, Lake County, Lake Forest, Lansing, Libertyville, Lincolnshire, Lombard, Maywood, McHenry County, Morris, Mount Prospect, Mundelein, Naperville, Niles, Norridge, North Chicago, Northbrook, Oak Brook, Oak Forest, Oak Lawn, Oak Park, Ogle, Orland Park, Palatine, Park Forest, Park Ridge, Plano, Riverside, Riverwoods, Rochelle, Rockford, Rolling, Romeoville, Rosemont, Schaumburg, Schiller Park, Skokie, St Charles, Streamwood, Tinley Park, Vernon Hills, Warrenville, Waukegan, Westchester, Wheaton, Wheeling, Will County, Wilmette, Winebago, Wood Dale and Woodridge;
- Indiana,
- Cedar Lake, Crown Point, East Chicago, Gary, Hammond, Hobart, Lake County, Lake, Merrilvilee, Merrilville, Portage, Porter County, and Valparaiso;
- Wisconsin,
- Kenosha County and Kenosha.
These locations are all included in the Chicago, IL metropolitan area as defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB).