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 These posts contain previously unpublished Salary Survey data.

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It used to be the case that phone- or web-based applications were wondrous gizmos that ingeniously simplified various tasks. Now "apps" are the rule, not the exception. People no longer even have to ask whether or not "there's an app for that." It's simply a matter of determining which app best suits your preferences.

A key subset of all software applications is phone-based or "mobile" applications. So where do new mobile apps come from? No, no the app stork. (That's "store," by the way.) New mobile applications are created by developers, and developers can build or validate their all-important skill set by getting certified.

One key credential in the field is CIW Mobile Application Developer, No. 68 on our most recent Salary Survey 75 list. Those who complete the credential, as noted at the CIW Mobile Application Developer website, have proven knowledge of the "fundamentals of application development for various mobile operating systems, such as Android, iOS and Windows Phone."

Here’s what the salary picture looks like for CIW Mobile Application Developer holders who responded to the Salary Survey:

All U.S. Respondents
Average Annual Salary: $82,300
Median Annual Salary: $60,680
How satisfied are you with your current salary?
Completely Satisfied: 10 percent
Very Satisfied: 31 percent
Satisfied: 50 percent
Not Very Satisfied: 8 percent
Not At All Satisfied: 1 percent

All Non-U.S. Respondents
Average Annual Salary: $75,470
Median Annual Salary: $70,000
How satisfied are you with your current salary?
Completely Satisfied: 12.5 percent
Very Satisfied: 43.8 percent
Satisfied: 18.8 percent
Not Very Satisfied: 18.7 percent
Not At All Satisfied: 6.2 percent

The CIW certification program has global reach, but the majority of CIW Mobile Application Developer holders who participated in the survey, roughly 86 percent, are from the United States. We did hear from a number of credential holders outside the United States, scattered across 10 different nations: Afghanistan, Albania, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Aruba, Djibouti, Kenya, and the United Kingdom.

A majority of those we heard from, as is typical of the IT realm, are men (53.4 percent), but we did hear from a striking number of CIW Mobile Application Developer holders who are women: 39.1 percent. The rest are either transgender male (4.4 percent), transgender female (1.3 percent), gender variant/nonconforming (0.9 percent) or chose not to identify their gender (also 0.9 percent). In terms of age, our pool of respondents is deepest between the ages of 35 and 44, where 56.9 percent of those surveyed show up. Everyone else falls either between the ages of 25 and 34 (30.2 percent), between the ages of 19 and 24 (5.2 percent), between the ages of 45 and 54 (also 5.2 percent), between the ages of 55 and 64 (1.7 percent), or 75 and older (0.8 percent).

More than 95 percent of the CIW Mobile Application Developer holders who responded to the survey have an educational background that includes time spent at a college or university. The highest level of formal education completed by most CIW Mobile Application Developer holders is either a bachelor’s degree (32.9 percent), master’s degree (31 percent), associate’s degree (18.1 percent), doctorate (8.6 percent), or professional degree (6.8 percent). The outliers are the 1.7 percent of those surveyed who exited the realm of formal education after completing some level of post-high school technical training, and the 0.9 percent whose highest education attainment is a high school diploma.

Slightly more than half of the CIW Mobile Application Developer holders who participated in the survey are employed full-time (51.5 percent of respondents), with 15.1 percent holding part-time jobs. The rest of those we heard from are either taking a sabbatical (14.2 percent), out of work (16.4 percent), or are primarily students (2.7 percent). Among those who have full-time jobs, 30.2 percent are at work for the standard 40 hours per week, with 10.6 percent putting in between 41 and 50 hours per week. The remaining roughly 60 percent of those surveyed have a full-time work schedule of either more than 50 hours per week (5.2 percent), between 31 and 39 hours per week (27.6 percent), between 20 and 30 hours per week (13.8 percent), or fewer than 20 hours per week (12.9 percent).

In the COVID-19 era, tech jobs often come with a degree of flexibility to work from home, and many developers in the modern landscape are freelancers. Among those who responded to the survey, however, 42 percent work from home fewer than 10 hours per week, and 35.3 percent work from home for between 10 and 20 hours per week. In the middle are 7.8 percent of respondents who work from home between 21 and 30 hours per week, and 7.8 percent who work from from home between 31 and 39 hours per week. That leaves just 7 percent of respondents who handle their entire weekly schedule in a pants-optional environment, putting in either 40 hours per week from home (2.6 percent) or more than 40 hours per week from home (4.3 percent).

In terms of workplace standing, the largest single group of CIW Mobile Application Developer holders we heard from, 27.1 percent, are at the senior manager level. The rest, in descending order, are either managers (22.7 percent), executives (14.2 percent), directors (13 percent), senior specialists (11.1 percent), specialists (5.7 percent), or rank-and-file employees (6.2 percent).

Nearly half (49.4 percent) of the CIW Mobile Application Developer holders who responded to the survey are relative newcomers, having worked in a role that directly utilizes one or more of their certified skills for between 3 and 5 years. The rest have been plying their certified skills for either between zero years (1 to 11 months) and 2 years (18.2 percent of those surveyed), between 6 and 8 years (26.2 percent), between 9 and 10 years (4 percent), or for more than a decade (2.2 percent).

Finally, here’s the view of CIW Mobile Application Developer 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: 15.1 percent
Several times a week: 48.9 percent
Several times a month: 24.4 percent
Occasionally: 8 percent
Rarely: 3.6 percent

Since becoming certified, I feel there is greater demand for my skills.
Strongly agree: 32 percent
Agree: 34.7 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 16.4 percent
Disagree: 13.3 percent
Strongly Disagree: 3.6 percent

Becoming certified has increased my problem-solving skills.
Strongly agree: 26.7 percent
Agree: 34.7 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 15.5 percent
Disagree: 10.7 percent
Strongly Disagree: 12.4 percent

Becoming certified has increased my workplace productivity.
Strongly agree: 23.1 percent
Agree: 33.3 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 19.1 percent
Disagree: 10.7 percent
Strongly Disagree: 13.8 percent

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