Yes, a Career in Tech Pays Well. It’s Also More Stable.

At this point, it’s undeniable: your current salary won’t cut it anymore. Maybe your landlord is raising your rent. Maybe you want to start a family. Maybe you just know you’re worth more than what you're getting. 

So you start looking into what you might do next. You research the top-paid professions, and while it might be fascinating to become a neurologist or anaesthesiologist, you need to make the change quick — within a year, not within the decade that those careers might require. That leaves one clear path: into tech.

Not only is this the right choice for people looking to start earning what they deserve; a professional pivot into tech is also the smart move for people who want to gain the know-how that will keep them in demand for years to come.

Here’s why.

Typical tech salaries

So far, we haven’t put any data behind our claims. Let’s change that, starting by nailing down the average tech salary, delineated by profession. Check out the chart below with data sourced from the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

(Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4)

The first thing to note about this data is that the BLS does not track business intelligence analyst as a unique profession (yet), so we replaced that title with one that people can get post-BIA-bootcamp: market research analyst. The second thing to note is that, at the lowest end, a tech salary beats out the economy-wide average by over $26,000. That’s the price of a brand-new car. And at its high end, a US tech salary is over $84,000 more than the average. That’s the price of a brand-new luxury car.

Now, to just temper some expectations, we have to keep in mind that this data covers all experience levels. That means that people who earn truly eye-watering salaries_{The Top 18 Companies That Pay Software Engineers the Most in 2024} in tech are also included. For TripleTen grads, the graph looks slightly different.

This data comes from our 2023 Outcomes Report. You don’t see cyber security included in the above chart because we didn’t have that program back then. In addition, you’ve probably compared this chart with the one above and wondered at the discrepancy.

We specialize in helping people get their first job in tech after having been on a previous professional path. “First” is important in that sentence — our grads are typically beginning their tech careers, meaning they go for entry-level roles, which tend to command lower wages. In fact, nearly 90% of our grads land entry-level roles upon graduation. However, that doesn’t mean they don’t continue to bigger and better paychecks. As experience increases, so does salary.

But earnings are only part of the picture. Stability is also crucial.

Stats on stability in tech jobs

Getting a great paycheck wouldn’t be quite as alluring if it came with the proviso that the pay would only come in sporadically. But here’s the thing: the BLS is predicting employment opportunities for people working in IT to grow significantly. For some data on what we mean, here’s another quick chart:

(Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4)

Despite everything you might have read about layoffs in tech_{Let’s Talk About Those Layoffs in Tech}, the BLS predicts that, at the low end, tech employment will grow at a rate twice that of the average. And at the high end, employment will skyrocket — increasing at a rate nine times the average.

So what does this mean for you? Well not only do these jobs pay well, but there will be more and more demand for qualified specialists as more of these positions open up over the next nine years. If you’re one of those specialists, you’re going to be crucial for organizations throughout the economy, so you won’t have to worry about career prospects. Who knows — you might even find other companies trying to poach you once you launch a career in tech.

How this played out for one of our grads

That problem with sporadic income? That was one of the big reasons Sheldon Kinsler_{From Sales to Tech: How Sheldon Kinsler Found a New Career and Community} started looking into tech. See, he had been in sales, but he couldn’t rely on any consistency in his paycheck. “Sales is 100% commission-based. So some months are really great. Some months, you really wonder if you have a job. You can't really predict the future for that,” he said.

After seeing an ad for TripleTen, he reached out to his cousin, a software developer, and got the lowdown on what it’s like to work in tech. He liked what he heard, and liked what his research showed him about TripleTen. He enrolled.

He was nervous going into the Business Intelligence Analytics program, but by sticking to a schedule and asking for help from tutors and the community when he needed it, he mastered the material. In fact, he was so on top of the know-how that he landed a job before he even graduated.

Now, he’s a Business Data Analyst at RCM&D, an insurance brokerage firm. Inconsistent income is a thing of the past, and he’s making double what he made before.

You can follow his example

Sheldon is far from an outlier. In fact, according to our 2023 Outcomes Report, 87% of TripleTen grads land jobs within six months of finishing the program. And among that cohort, half land jobs before even finishing the bootcamp — just like Sheldon did.

Best of all, the data shows that the change tends to stick for our grads. In total, 90% of employed TripleTen alums stay with their first employer for at least a year.

Why? Well, we went to over 1,000 employers and asked them. The answer was simple: people in charge of hiring are looking for skills — 68% of respondents said hard skills were paramount while 65% said soft skills were likewise crucial.

These are the exact skills we teach. Our programs are employment-focused, so when our alums go off into the workforce, not only do they improve their income. They also keep things that way.

See what career is right for you

Want to land one of these well-paid and stable jobs but unsure which one is right for you? Take our career quiz to take your first step towards a powerful professional pivot.