Seattle Job Guide: The Best Careers in Seattle, Washington

Seattle is one of the most culturally influential cities in the entire country. It also has the distinction of being the northernmost major city in the United States, as well as being the largest city in the state of Washington. With a population of about 600,000 residents, Seattle has distinguished itself as one of the most prominent city's in America's northwest. From Starbucks to Amazon.com, Seattle has proved itself to be both a cultural and economic powerhouse that has left an indelible mark on our country. In fact, there are fourteen different Fortune 1000 companies headquartered in Seattle alone.

Seattle's booming economy owes a lot to the commitment and perseverance of its workforce. Today, Seattle is known as the most highly educated city in the entire country, with over 51% of its residents having attained at least a Bachelor's degree. It is for this and many other reasons that Seattle is constantly topping lists as one of the best cities for establishing a career or doing business. Microsoft, Costco and Washington Mutual are just a few of the companies who have benefitted from Seattle's combination of ideal factors.

High technology is one of the most important sectors in Seattle's economy. The city has one of the highest concentrations of software jobs of any city in the country. Today, there are more than 6,000 software companies in Seattle employing more than 65,000 people. Four of the top ten most popular careers in Seattle are in the high-tech fields. All combined, computer software engineer is the most popular career choice among educated professionals in the entire city. There is a total of more than 36,000 software engineers in Seattle.

Software engineer for applications is the most popular choice, with about 21,000 of them employed by some of the nation's top software companies. These engineers earn, on average, about $94,000 a year with salaries extending upwards of $129,000 for talented employees. Systems software engineer is a less popular choice, but it is slightly more lucrative. Today, there are about 15,000 systems software engineers in Seattle earning an average salary of about $100,000 a year.

Computer systems analyst is the sixth most popular career in the entire city, with about 9,000 men and women working in this position every day. Computer systems analysts is Seattle earn an average salary of about $83,000 a year. Computer programmer rounds out the list of top tech careers in Seattle, with 8,800 programmers earning an average of about $89,000 annually with salaries reaching up to $130,000 for talented programmers.

With the high concentration of major corporations in Seattle, it should come as no surprise that the field of sales is a booming industry in the city. All of these major companies, from Nintendo to Nextel, all require sales people to help build their businesses and keep the company profitable. That is why salesman is now the second most popular career choice in the entire city. All combined, there are almost 28,000 salesmen and women living and working in Seattle on any given day.

General sales representatives for wholesale and manufacturing products top the list with about 20,000 of these types of employees working at the city's many major companies. These types of salesman earn an average salary of about $66,000 a year, but wages for well-educated and experienced employees can reach as high as $113,000 in Seattle. Sales representatives for technical and scientific products are rarer, but they are very highly paid for the complex nature of their work. There are more than 7,000 of these types of salesmen. On average, these employees earn about $90,000 a year with salaries extending up to $161,000 for driven employees .

Sources:
To read more about Seattle Job Guide click here. College Degree Report will offer you a variety of Washington career, salary and employment information. To find out the fastest growing occupations, click on United States Department of labor, Employment projections.