Big Data skills pay top dollar

Tech salaries saw a nearly 3% bump last year, and IT pros with expertise in big data-related languages, databases and skills enjoyed some of the largest paychecks.

Average U.S. tech salaries climbed to $87,811 in 2013, up from $85,619 the previous year, according to Dice's newly released 2013-2014 Salary Survey. Significantly, nine of the top 10 highest paying IT salaries are for skills related to big data, says the tech career site.

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At the top of the list is R, a software environment for statistical computing and graphics. Here's the full list of the top 10 highest paying IT salaries:

1. R: $115,5312. NoSQL: $114,7963. MapReduce: $114,3964. PMBok: $112,3825. Cassandra: $112,3826. Omnigraffle: $111,0397. Pig: $109,5618. Service Oriented Architecture: $108,9979. Hadoop: $108,66910. Mongo DB: $107,825

"Companies are betting big that harnessing data can play a major role in their competitive plans, and that is leading to high pay for critical skills," said Shravan Goli, president of Dice, in a statement. "Technology professionals should be volunteering for big data projects, which makes them more valuable to their current employer and more marketable to other employers."

Among all respondents, 34% of tech pros received a bonus as part of their 2013 compensation, and average bonuses totaled $9,323.

Silicon Valley tops the list of highest paid metropolitan areas when it comes to tech talent, with an average annual salary of $108,603 and an average annual bonus of $12,458.

When asked if they are satisfied with their salaries, respondents were divided. Nearly half were either very satisfied (17%) or somewhat satisfied (37%). Some were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied (16%). At the other extreme, respondents were somewhat dissatisfied (20%) and very dissatisfied (10%).

A majority of IT pros (65%) told Dice they're confident they could find a new, better position.

Ann Bednarz covers IT careers, outsourcing and Internet culture for Network World. Follow Ann on Twitter at @annbednarz and reach her via email at abednarz@nww.com.

Read more about software in Network World's Software section.