The highest-paid role in CIO’s March 2024 list was IT management, with a reported U.S. average annual salary of $163,526. Solutions architect and program analyst/manager followed at $157,768 and $148,173. These are averages attributed to the 2024 Dice Tech Salary Report—not current 2026 pay figures or government wage medians.
Below are all 15 roles in the order CIO ranked them, followed by a separate Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) benchmark. The distinction matters: the ranking mixes executives, managers, specialists and broad job categories, so its titles are not all directly comparable.
15 highest-paying IT jobs in CIO’s 2024 list
The figures below are annual U.S. dollar averages reported by CIO on March 22, 2024, attributed to the 2024 Dice Tech Salary Report. The percentage changes compare with 2022, as reported in that article; they describe that historical comparison, not a trend to project forward. CIO’s full ranking and role descriptions provide the source for each entry.
| Rank | Role | Reported average annual salary | Change since 2022 | What the role covers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | IT management | $163,526 | −0.8% | Technology infrastructure, strategy, resources and operations; includes CIO, CTO, VP and IT director roles. |
| 2 | Solutions architect | $157,768 | +1.2% | Designs and implements system architecture to meet business or customer needs. |
| 3 | Program analyst/manager | $148,173 | +6.1% | Coordinates programs and projects, including schedules, budgets, stakeholders, risks, compliance and progress. |
| 4 | Principal software engineer | $145,206 | −5.3% | Leads engineering work, reviews code and designs architecture for complex software. |
| 5 | Cybersecurity engineer/architect | $140,656 | −3.4% | A combined category spanning engineers who build and maintain security infrastructure and architects who design security systems. |
| 6 | Product manager | $129,814 | −6.7% | Collects customer requirements, sets roadmaps and feature priorities, coordinates teams and tracks product performance. |
| 7 | MIS manager | $124,774 | −5.5% | Oversees management information systems, IT strategy, staff, budgets, security and operational goals. |
| 8 | DevOps engineer | $124,071 | −8.8% | Works across infrastructure, automation, software testing, performance monitoring and continuous integration and delivery. |
| 9 | Systems engineer | $123,437 | +2.2% | Designs systems, coordinates requirements and constraints, and supports testing and quality control. |
| 10 | Software developer | $123,067 | +6.5% | Develops application or systems software. |
| 11 | Cloud architect/engineer | $122,509 | −15.8% | A combined category covering cloud-system design and building or maintaining cloud infrastructure. |
| 12 | Project manager | $121,110 | +0.4% | Plans and executes projects, coordinating teams, stakeholders, schedules and budgets. |
| 13 | Back-end software engineer | $121,037 | −6.3% | Builds server-side systems, APIs and data storage, with attention to server stability and security. |
| 14 | Data engineer | $120,248 | −2.1% | Builds and maintains scalable, reliable systems and tools for processing and managing organizational data. |
| 15 | .NET developer | $119,551 | +4.8% | Develops and maintains applications and platforms using .NET. |
The list’s first three reported averages were $163,526 for IT management, $157,768 for solutions architects and $148,173 for program analyst/managers. The final entry, .NET developer, averaged $119,551 in this ranking.
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How to interpret these salary figures
They are reported averages, not medians
CIO attributes the amounts to the 2024 Dice Tech Salary Report and presents them as averages. The reviewed article does not establish the underlying sample, weighting or role-by-role calculation, so the figures should not be read as a census of every U.S. worker in those jobs.
The roles are not equivalent in scope or seniority
“IT management” includes executive titles such as CIO and CTO as well as vice presidents and directors, while entries such as back-end software engineer describe a technical specialty. Other rows combine distinct jobs: cybersecurity engineer/architect and cloud architect/engineer each cover more than one function. Job responsibilities and seniority can also vary by employer.
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The list is not a current-pay guide
The ranking was published in March 2024 and reports a comparison with 2022. It does not establish regional pay, total compensation including equity, or salaries in 2026. Treat it as a dated national snapshot rather than a salary offer target or forecast.
How the ranking compares with BLS wage data
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports standardized occupational medians, a different statistic from CIO’s Dice-attributed averages. BLS defines the median as the wage at which half of workers earned more and half earned less. Its figures are national occupational estimates for May 2024, published on the BLS Computer and Information Technology Occupations page.
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|---|---|---|
| Computer and information technology occupations, overall | $105,990 | May 2024 |
| Computer and information research scientists | $140,910 | May 2024 |
| Software developers, quality assurance analysts, and testers | $131,450 | May 2024 |
| Computer network architects | $130,390 | May 2024 |
| Database administrators and architects | $123,100 | May 2024 |
| Information security analysts | $124,910 | May 2024 |
| Computer systems analysts | $103,790 | May 2024 |
| Computer programmers | $98,670 | May 2024 |
| All occupations, overall | $49,500 | May 2024 |
The BLS computer and IT group median was $105,990, compared with $49,500 across all occupations. That gives broad context for the field, but it does not make the BLS and CIO rankings interchangeable. BLS categories do not map one-to-one to titles such as solutions architect, principal software engineer or cloud architect/engineer; compare a figure only after checking the statistic, year and occupation definition.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the BLS outlook and education data say
BLS projects about 317,700 openings per year on average for computer and IT occupations from 2024 to 2034. The group-level projection includes openings from both employment growth and replacement needs; it is not a forecast or guarantee for any particular role in CIO’s list.
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Typical entry education also differs across BLS occupations. The BLS lists a master’s degree as typical for computer and information research scientists, and a bachelor’s degree for such categories as network architects, database administrators and architects, information security analysts, and software developers, quality assurance analysts and testers. “Typical” describes the level most workers need to enter an occupation, not a universal employer requirement—and these categories do not correspond exactly to every title in the salary ranking.
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Using the ranking when weighing IT career options
- Check the job’s actual scope. A broad label or combined category can cover different responsibilities, and management entries may be more senior than specialist roles.
- Compare like with like. Keep the source, year and measure attached to a salary: the CIO/Dice figures are reported averages from a 2024 ranking, while BLS figures are May 2024 occupational medians.
- Look beyond the headline salary. The ranking does not establish local pay or total compensation, and the BLS group outlook does not guarantee demand for any one job title.
- Use education figures as context, not a checklist. BLS describes typical entry education for standardized occupations; individual employers and roles may differ.
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