Salary Survey Extra is a series of dispatches that give added insight into the findings of our annual Salary Survey. These posts contain previously unpublished Salary Survey data.

Nobody stays King of the Hill forever. When we drew up last year's Salary Survey 75 list, the Amazon Web Services Certified Developer - Associate credential was the hot new No. 1. With this year's list, it's just another number (No. 11, to be precise) looking up from the crowd. Not that anyone should shed a tear: credential holders will still get hefty paychecks.

Here's what the salary picture looks like for the AWS Certified Developer - Associate holders who responded to the Salary Survey:

All U.S. Respondents
Average Annual Salary: $136,670
Median Annual Salary: $138,750
How satisfied are you with your current salary?
Completely Satisfied: [No responses]
Very Satisfied: 16.8 percent
Satisfied: 41.7 percent
Not Very Satisfied: 25 percent
Not At All Satisfied: 16.5 percent

Just last year, we heard from AWS Certified Developer - Associate holders in the United States and seven other countries. This year, we had enough U.S. input for a spot on the list, but the level of our international feedback went over the proverbial cliff.

Almost all of those who responded to the survey (91.8 percent) are men, though we did hear from handful of female credential holders. The AWS Certified Developer - Associate holders we heard from are nearly all some degree of middle-aged, with more than 83 percent of those surveyed either between the ages of 35 and 44 (33.3 percent) or between the ages of 45 and 54 (50 percent). That middle ground is bookended by nearly identical segments, with 8.4 percent of respondents between the ages of 25 and 34 and 8.3 percent between the ages of 55 and 64.

More than 90 percent of the AWS Certified Developer - Associate holders who responded to the survey have an educational background that includes time spent at a college or university. The highest level of education completed by most AWS Certified Developer - Associate holders is either a bachelor's degree (50 percent of respondents), master's degree (16.7 percent), or associate's degree (25 percent). The outliers are the 8.3 percent of those surveyed who completed some level of technical training after high school.

An impressive 95.8 percent of AWS Certified Developer - Associate holders who participated in the survey have full-time jobs, with the remaining 4.2 percent out of work. Among those who have full-time jobs, most have either a standard 40-hours-per-week schedule (41.7 percent of those surveyed) or put in between 41 and 50 hours per week. That leaves a hard-working 8.1 percent of credential holders, all of whom are on the clock more than 50 hours per week.

Technology has given IT workers more freedom than ever before to work remotely, but there are plenty of AWS Certified Developer - Associate holders who still do most (or all ) of their work in some sort of traditional office setting: 50 percent of those surveyed work from home 10 or fewer hours per week. Roughly one third of credential holders have more freedom, working either between 10 and 20 hours per week from home (17.2 percent of respondents), or between 21 and 30 hours per week (16.2 percent). The outliers are the 8.6 percent of those surveyed who work 40 hours per week from home and the 8 percent who put in more than 40 hours per week without ever darkening the door of an office building.

In terms of workplace standing, the largest single group of AWS Certified Developer - Associate holders we heard from are employed at the senior specialist level (61.5 percent of respondents). The rest, in descending order, are either specialists (15.5 percent), managers (15.3 percent), or directors (7.7 percent).

More than three-fourths of the AWS Certified Developer - Associate holders who responded to the survey — 76.9 percent of them, to be exact — are IT veterans, having worked in a role that directly utilizes one or more of the certified skills for more than a decade. That rest are have been plying their certified skills for either between zero years (1 to 11 months) and 2 years (15.4 percent of respondents) or between 3 and 5 years (7.7 percent).

Finally, here's the view of AWS Certified Developer - Associate holders on key questions from the survey about how certification impacts job performance:

At my current job I use skills learned or enhanced through certification:
Several times a day: 23.1 percent
Several times a week: 38.5 percent
Several times a month: 7.7 percent
Occasionally: 30.8 percent
Rarely: [No responses]

Since becoming certified, I feel there is greater demand for my skills.
Strongly agree: 53.8 percent
Agree: 38.5 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: [No responses]
Disagree: 7.7 percent
Strongly Disagree: [No responses]

Becoming certified has increased my problem-solving skills.
Strongly agree: 30.8 percent
Agree: 46.2 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 15.4 percent
Disagree: [No responses]
Strongly Disagree: 7.6 percent

Becoming certified has increased my workplace productivity.
Strongly agree: 23.3 percent
Agree: 69.2 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: [No responses]
Disagree: [No responses]
Strongly Disagree: 7.5 percent

PAST AWS CERTIFIED DEVELOPER - ASSOCIATE DEEP FOCUS FEATURES

2019