Web Developer Career Guide for 2027
- Median annual pay
- $92,650
- BLS OEWS, May 2025
- Projected growth, 2025-35
- 3.8%
- BLS Employment Projections
- Typical entry education
- Bachelor’s
- BLS Employment Projections
Key takeaways
- Web developers build and maintain websites and web applications: the code, the databases behind them and how they behave across browsers and devices. BLS counts 70,190 of them, with a median of $92,650 in May 2025, and counts them separately from software developers.
- BLS lists a bachelor’s degree as the typical entry education, but this is one of the more open doors in computing. In O*NET’s survey only 46% of workers said a new hire needs a bachelor’s; the other answers included 17% post-secondary certificate and 17% associate’s degree. A portfolio of working sites carries real weight.
- BLS projects web developer jobs to grow 3.8% from 2025 to 2035, about the same pace as the 3.5% for all occupations, with about 5,300 openings a year. BLS says low- and no-code tools and AI increasingly automate the work and let other staff do some of it.
- Freelancing is a real option: BLS counts 17.5% of web developers as self-employed. That brings flexibility, and it also means finding clients, pricing work and handling your own benefits. Before going solo, build a portfolio of working sites, because clients judge you on what you have shipped.
- Software developers earned a median $43,330 more than web developers in the same BLS release ($135,980 against $92,650). A software engineering degree prepares you for both, so web development can be a first job or the whole career. Compare degree programs.
What web developers do
Counted by BLS as web developers.
Web developers make websites and web applications work. They write the code that runs in the browser and on the server, connect pages to databases, and test that everything is valid, fast and usable on any device. Some specialize in the front end, what users see; others in the back end, the logic and data behind it.
BLS counts 70,190 web developers in May 2025, separately from software developers and from web and digital interface designers. O*NET’s task list for the occupation, quoted below, includes design, coding, testing and keeping backups.
The core tasks
- Write supporting code for Web applications or Web sites.
- Design, build, or maintain Web sites, using authoring or scripting languages, content creation tools, management tools, and digital media.
- Back up files from Web sites to local directories for instant recovery in case of problems.
- Select programming languages, design tools, or applications.
- Evaluate code to ensure that it is valid, is properly structured, meets industry standards, and is compatible with browsers, devices, or operating systems.
- Develop databases that support Web applications and Web sites.
Task statements for web developers, quoted from O*NET OnLine, in O*NET’s order of importance.
Job titles you will see
- Technology Applications Engineer
- Web Architect
- Web Design Specialist
- Web Developer
- Webmaster
Titles reported by workers in this occupation, O*NET OnLine.
Where web developers work
The largest employers of web developers among the 24 industries we checked, BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Web developers work for agencies that build sites for clients, for companies that run their own, and for themselves. In the industries we checked, computer systems design and related services employs the most; the median differs by industry, so where you work changes pay as well as the kind of sites you build.
Web Developers, national industry-specific estimates, BLS OEWS, May 2025. A candidate list of industries, ranked by employment; not BLS’s complete industry ranking. Share is the industry’s employment divided by the occupation’s national employment, 70,190.
Ways to become a web developer
BLS lists a bachelor’s degree as the typical entry education. Lengths are NCES’s definitions of each degree.
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A bachelor’s in software engineering or computer scienceusually at least four years of full-time study · median 121 credits
BLS’s typical entry education, and the route that opens the widest set of jobs, including software developer roles.
Compare software engineering bachelor’s programs → -
An associate’s degree or certificateshorter than a bachelor’s; NCES sets no single length
When O*NET asked web developers what a new hire needs, the answers included 17% post-secondary certificate and 17% associate’s degree, so shorter routes are common in web work. A portfolio of real sites matters most on this route.
Compare online computer science bachelor’s programs → -
Freelance and agency workno set length
BLS projections data puts 17.5% of web developers in self-employment. Build sites for yourself, a club or a local business, and show the code as well as the result.
Compare affordable online computer science degrees → -
A master’s to move into broader software workgenerally one or two years of full-time study beyond the bachelor’s · median 30 credits
Rarely required for web roles, but it can support a move into application architecture or software development.
Compare software engineering master’s programs →
Degree lengths: NCES, Digest of Education Statistics 2022, Appendix B: Definitions. Credits: the median of the programs in each ranking that state a credit total on their own page.
What employers expect
BLS’s typical entry requirements for web developers, BLS Employment Projections, occupation tables 1.2, 1.10 and 1.12, 2025-35.
- Typical entry education
- Bachelor’s degree
- Work experience in a related occupation
- None
- Typical on-the-job training
- None
What workers say a new hire needs
Share of surveyed workers in the occupation giving each answer, O*NET OnLine. Not a hiring requirement.
Programs to start with
The top two programs in each of our rankings, with the score and rank they carry there.
- San Jose State University #1 in our Bachelor’s in Software Engineering Score 87.0 of 100
- Florida Gulf Coast University #2 in our Bachelor’s in Software Engineering Score 85.2 of 100
- California State University-Long Beach #1 in our Computer Science Degrees for Software Engineers Score 94.1 of 100
- California State University-Fullerton #2 in our Computer Science Degrees for Software Engineers Score 93.0 of 100
- The University of Texas at Arlington #1 in Software Engineering Master’s Programs Score 86.9 of 100
- Arizona State University #2 in Software Engineering Master’s Programs Score 86.1 of 100
What the degree costs
IPEDS tuition, 2023–24, at the programs in our rankings: in-state undergraduate for bachelor’s, the school’s average graduate rate for master’s.
Tuition is before fees, housing and financial aid, and it is the school-wide IPEDS figure, so the price a student pays can differ widely from the sticker. Public schools charging in-state rates sit at the low end of the bachelor’s range.
For what the job pays by state, metro and industry, see the web developer salary report.
Web developer pay and job outlook
Web Developers, BLS OEWS, May 2025; BLS Employment Projections, 2025-35.
Top-paying factors
Where the highest medians are, against the national median of $92,650. Each is a published median from the same release, not an estimate for any one person.
Web Developers, BLS OEWS, May 2025: state, metropolitan area and national industry-specific medians.
Half of web developers earned more than $92,650 in May 2025 and half earned less; the middle half fell between $64,230 and $126,230. Washington has the highest state median, $130,440. BLS publishes no pay by years of experience, so this guide gives the range, not a ladder of salaries. The web developer salary report breaks pay down by state, metro and industry.
How the career moves
Typical stages. Titles and scope change by employer; BLS publishes no stages or pay by level.
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Junior web developer
Junior Web Developer · Front-End Developer · Webmaster
Build pages and components from a designer’s layout, fix display bugs across browsers and keep existing sites updated. Code review and a senior developer’s feedback do most of the teaching.
-
Web developer
Web Developer · Web Applications Developer
Own features from layout to database, choose tools for a project and make sure the result is fast, accessible and works on every device the audience uses.
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Senior or full-stack developer
Senior Web Developer · Full-Stack Developer
Design how a whole application fits together, from the browser to the server and data, and mentor newer developers. Many move toward software developer titles at this point.
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Architect, lead or independent
Web Architect · Lead Developer · Freelance Developer
Set the technical direction for a company’s sites, lead a team, or run your own practice with your own clients. Each path asks for different skills beyond code.
Pros and cons
What people like about being a web developer, and what wears on them.
What draws people in
- Pro: Several ways in: a degree helps, but a strong portfolio can open doors on its own.
- Pro: Work you can see: the result is a site or app you can show anyone.
- Pro: Room to work for yourself: BLS counts 17.5% of web developers as self-employed.
- Pro: A clear entry point: BLS lists no prior work experience and no on-the-job training as typical for entry.
What to weigh first
- Con: Lower pay than software developers: a median $43,330 less in May 2025.
- Con: Low- and no-code tools and AI are taking over simple site building, which BLS names as a drag on the occupation.
- Con: Browsers, frameworks and devices change quickly, and keeping up is unpaid homework.
- Con: Client work can mean shifting requirements and tight launch dates.
A day in the job
Illustrative: a composite day built from the job’s core tasks, not a record of one person’s day. Real days vary by team and employer.
- MorningChecking overnight error reports and backing up a site before a planned update.
- Late morningReviewing a new page design with a designer and deciding which framework and components will build it.
- AfternoonWriting the page and the code that pulls its content from a database, then testing it on phones, tablets and several browsers.
- Late afternoonValidating the markup and fixing an accessibility problem a screen reader user would hit.
- End of dayPushing the change to a staging site and sending the link to the client or product owner for sign-off.
Five questions before you commit
If most of these get a yes, the job is likely a good match.
- Do you care how things look and feel to use?Web developers sit closest to the user, and small layout and speed problems are visible to everyone.
- Will you build a portfolio on your own time?Many hiring decisions in this field rest on sites you can show, not only on a transcript.
- Can you handle frequent change in your tools?The frameworks you learn first will not be the ones you use for long.
- Are you comfortable working with clients or non-technical colleagues?Requirements often come from marketing, design or a client, and they change once people see a draft.
- Are you willing to go deeper than page building?BLS says simple web work is increasingly automated; databases, application logic and performance are harder to replace.
Frequently asked questions
What does a web developer do?
Web developers write the code for websites and web applications, choose the languages and tools, test that pages work across browsers and devices, and build the databases behind them. O*NET’s top task for the occupation is to “Write supporting code for Web applications or Web sites.”
How much do web developers make?
Web developers earned a median of $92,650 in May 2025, according to BLS. The 10th percentile was $48,100 and the 90th was $162,290.
Do you need a degree to be a web developer?
BLS lists a bachelor’s degree as the typical entry education, but it is not universal. In O*NET’s survey of the occupation, 46% of workers said a new hire needs a bachelor’s, and the other answers included 17% post-secondary certificate and 17% associate’s degree. Employers often judge web developers on the sites they have built.
Is web development a good career?
BLS projects 3.8% growth from 2025 to 2035, about the same pace as all occupations, with about 5,300 openings a year, and a median of $92,650. BLS also says low- and no-code tools and AI are automating parts of the work, so developers who handle complex applications are better placed than those building simple sites.
What is the difference between a web developer and a software developer?
Web developers specialize in sites and web applications; software developers build any kind of software, including the systems behind large web products. BLS counts them as separate occupations. Software developers earned a median of $135,980 in May 2025, against $92,650 for web developers.
How much does a software engineering degree cost?
At the 75 bachelor’s programs in our ranking with a figure, the median in-state tuition for 2023–24 was $20,696 a year, ranging from $7,258 to $48,037. Those IPEDS figures are before fees, housing and financial aid.
How long does it take to become a web developer?
The usual route is a bachelor’s degree, which NCES defines as usually at least four years of full-time study; the computer science bachelor’s programs we rank require a median of 120 credits. BLS lists no work experience in a related occupation as typical for entry, so the degree is the main clock. A master’s takes generally one or two years of full-time study beyond the bachelor’s.
Can web developers work freelance?
Yes, more than in most computer occupations: BLS counts 17.5% of web developers as self-employed.
References
Every figure on this page comes from one of these, read by the site’s data scripts and computed at build time, never typed in.
- 1 Web Developers, O*NET OnLine Task statements and reported job titles, quoted verbatim, and the education survey of workers in the occupation. O*NET OnLine, read 2026-10-06.
- 2 BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025: national, industry Web developers: employment, median and percentiles nationally, and employment and median in the 24 industries we checked. Read .
- 3 BLS Employment Projections, 2025-35 Projected employment change and annual openings, 2025 to 2035, for web developers and the related occupations.
- 4 BLS Employment Projections, occupation tables 1.2, 1.10 and 1.12, 2025-35 Table 1.2: BLS’s typical entry education, work experience and on-the-job training.
- 5 NCES, Digest of Education Statistics 2022, Appendix B: Definitions Definitions of the bachelor’s and master’s degree, including their usual length in full-time study.
- 6 NCES IPEDS IC2023_AY, 2023-24: undergraduate tuition for bachelor’s programs; for master’s, the school-wide average graduate tuition, which excludes program fees Tuition for the 75 ranked bachelor’s and 44 ranked master’s programs, the same figures the ranking pages show.
- 7 BLS Employment Projections, occupation tables 1.2, 1.10 and 1.12, 2025-35 Table 1.12: BLS’s stated factor behind the projection for web developers, paraphrased in the outlook copy; table 1.2 for the self-employed share.