Research Reports
Featured Research
Discover IA industry trends, software and education patterns among IAs, including our latest surveys:
Salary Survey, 2007
The 2007 IAI Salary Survey was conducted from June to October 2007. Members of the IA Institute, UXNet, IxDA and sigia-l were invited to participate. A total of 575 responses were collected. Respondents who did not enter a salary range were filtered out. You can download the full results, including open-ended responses (an Excel file) or our expanded analysis of salary by geographic region, gender, age, education level, etc.
Since respondents gave us a salary range instead of an exact salary figure, it is impossible to estimate a true average salary. In our analysis, we have estimated the mean for various data points by taking the midpoint of the salary range a person selected and then averaging that figure for various data points, and used $150,000 for the "Over $150,000" and $20,000 for the "Under $20,000" group. This clearly is not ideal, particularly since this year the "Over $150,000 range" represented 5% of the population of the survey. For that reason, we may present a "mean" salary estimate for comparison purposes, but it is better to read the survey results in terms of a percentage that fell within a range rather than thinking in terms of a specific average salary. For next year, we expect to expand the number of categories in the upper salary ranges.
Some of the survey findings:
- Of the 575 responses; 71.1%% were from USA, concentrating in the Northeast and Western states Of the remaining geographic regions, 6.8% were from the United Kingdom, 5.3% were from South America (mostly Brazil), 4.4% from Canada and 3.9% from Australia/Pacific Rim.
- The modal earning group is US$100,000-109,999, representing 10.8% of all respondents, a significantly larger percentage of respondents than any other earning category for this question. The mean salary was approximately $86,000.
- Because the the Over US$150,000 group represents 5.2% of the total, we plan to expand this group in next year's survey.
- This is the first year that we added a question on gender, and it provided some of our most interesting findings. The gender split is almost equal, with 49% female to 51% male. Also, female IAs on average make more than males (US$87,500 versus US$85,300). Looking closer, we found more males in both the Under US$20,000 and Over US$150,000 categories. Removing the upper and lower categories from the calculation, women still held a lead in salary earned; however, in neither case was the difference statistically significant. The modal response for both genders was US$100,000-US$109,999.
- 56% of respondents are between the ages 31-40. 73% of respondents are between the ages of 26 and 40.
- In Job Titles, 29.7% of respondents use the words "Information Architect" in their title (10.1% have some variation of "lead" or "chief" qualifying the "Information Architect" label). Other significant titles are User Experience Designer (9.7%), Chief/Lead/Senior User Experience Designer (6.0%), Interaction Designer (7.1%), Chief/Lead/Senior Interaction Designer 4.4% and Usability Engineer (3.4%).
- Strategic IA (81.0%), User testing (80.9%) and other user research tasks (80.5%) were the most commonly cited tasks performed by respondents. Very few specific tasks make up more than 50% of anyone's working day. Interaction design, while mentioned by 75.8% of respondents appears to be a clear specialty, with 24.0% spending more than half their day on Interaction design tasks. The only other specialty task that comes close is Strategic IA, to which 10.3% of respondents devote at least half their day. Some respondents have requested that we add more management level tasks to next year's survey. Indeed, 73.9% of respondents have project management duties and more than half perform general business consulting and other non-IA administrative tasks.
- In terms of job seniority, 41% of respondents have spent less than a year in their current job, 36.5% have stayed on 1-3 years and 17% have spent over 5 years at the same job.
- Years experience as an IA was pretty flat with most groups hovering around 10% of total. The largest group was the over 10 years experience (14.9%)
- Job perks typically included 11-15 vacation days and 7-9 public holidays. Top five benefits include health insurance (83.1%), life insurance, (67.9%), 401K or ither investment plan (66.4%), bonus (61.2%), and professional development (59.9%).
Below are the complete question-by-question results from the 2007 IAI Salary Survey:
| 1. How old are you? | |||
 | Response Percent | Response Count | |
| under 21 |  | 0.4% | 2 |
| 21-25 | | 4.5% | 26 |
| 26-30 | | 17.3% | 99 |
| 31-35 | | 31.0% | 178 |
| 36-40 | | 24.7% | 142 |
| 41-45 | | 9.6% | 55 |
| 46-50 | | 5.6% | 32 |
| 51-55 | | 4.7% | 27 |
| 56-60 | | 1.6% | 9 |
| 61-65 | | 0.7% | 4 |
| over 65 | 0.0% | 0 | |
| answered question | 574 | |
| skipped question | 1 | |
| 2. What is Your Gender? | |||
| Response Percent | Response Count | |
| Female | | 48.9% | 281 |
| Male | | 51.1% | 294 |
| answered question | 575 | |
| skipped question | 0 | |
| 3. What is your educational level? | |||
| Response Percent | Response Count | |
| No degree | | 1.2% | 7 |
| High school | | 2.6% | 15 |
| Junior college | | 2.4% | 14 |
| Bachelor's | | 43.3% | 249 |
| Master's | | 46.8% | 269 |
| Doctorate | | 3.7% | 21 |
| answered question | 575 | |
| skipped question | 0 | |
| 4. What is your official job title? (Respondents were asked to be flexible and consider one from our list before resorting to "Other." We noted some overlap. | ||||||
| Response Percent | Response Count | ||||
| Information Architect | | 19.6% | 111 | |||
| Chief/Lead/Senior Information Architect | | 10.1% | 57 | |||
| IA Director / Manager | | 5.5% | 31 | |||
| Vice President of Information Architecture | 0.0% | 0 | ||||
| Interaction Designer | | 7.1% | 40 | |||
| Chief/Lead/Senior Interaction Designer | | 4.4% | 25 | |||
| Vice President of Interaction Design | | 0.5% | 3 | |||
| User Experience Designer | | 9.7% | 55 | |||
| Chief/Lead/Senior User Experience Designer | | 6.0% | 34 | |||
| Vice President of User Experience | | 1.9% | 11 | |||
| Usability Engineer | | 3.4% | 19 | |||
| Chief/Lead/Senior Usability Engineer | | 1.6% | 9 | |||
| Vice President of Usability | 0.0% | 0 | ||||
| Consultant | | 2.5% | 14 | |||
| Chief/Lead/Senior Consultant | | 1.9% | 11 | |||
| Principal/President/Director | | 2.3% | 13 | |||
| Webmaster/Web Editor | | 2.3% | 13 | |||
| Technical Writer | | 2.3% | 13 | |||
| Human Factors Engineer | | 1.4% | 8 | |||
| Web Designer/Developer | | 2.8% | 16 | |||
| Web Coordinator | | 1.9% | 11 | |||
| | 12.7% | 72 | |||
| answered question | 566 | ||||
| skipped question | 9 | ||||
| 5. During 2007, what do you estimate you will earn, including salary and bonus? (in US Dollars, before tax.) | |||
| Response Percent | Response Count | |
| under $20,000 | | 2.8% | 16 |
| $20,000-$24,999 | | 2.1% | 12 |
| $25,000-$29,999 | | 1.4% | 8 |
| $30,000-$34,999 | | 1.0% | 6 |
| $35,000-$39,999 | | 1.4% | 8 |
| $40,000-$44,999 | | 3.7% | 21 |
| $45,000-$49,999 | | 1.6% | 9 |
| $50,000-$54,999 | | 3.5% | 20 |
| $55,000-$59,999 | | 3.8% | 22 |
| $60,000-$64,999 | | 4.4% | 25 |
| $65,000-$69,999 | | 5.7% | 33 |
| $70,000-$74,999 | | 5.6% | 32 |
| $75,000-$79,999 | | 3.8% | 22 |
| $80,000-$84,999 | | 6.8% | 39 |
| $85,000-$89,999 | | 6.3% | 36 |
| $90,000-$94,999 | | 6.3% | 36 |
| $95,000-$99,999 | | 6.6% | 38 |
| $100,000-109,999 | | 10.8% | 62 |
| $110,000-119,999 | | 6.4% | 37 |
| $120,000-129,999 | | 5.7% | 33 |
| $130,000-139,999 | | 3.3% | 19 |
| $140,000-149,999 | | 1.9% | 11 |
| over $150,000 | | 5.2% | 30 |
| answered question | 575 | |
| skipped question | 0 | |
| 6. How large was your last salary increase? | |||
| Response Percent | Response Count | |
| not applicable | | 22.3% | 128 |
| my salary decreased | | 1.2% | 7 |
| 1-5% | | 38.4% | 221 |
| 6-10% | | 18.8% | 108 |
| 11-15% | | 8.2% | 47 |
| 16-20% | | 4.9% | 28 |
| 21-25% | | 2.8% | 16 |
| 26-30% | | 1.6% | 9 |
| 31-35% | | 0.5% | 3 |
| 36-40% | | 0.2% | 1 |
| 41-45% | | 0.4% | 2 |
| 46-50% | | 0.4% | 2 |
| 51-55% | | 0.4% | 2 |
| 56-60% | | 0.2% | 1 |
| over 60% | 0.0% | 0 | |
| answered question | 575 | |
| skipped question | 0 | |
| 7. How long ago was your last salary increase? | |||
| Response Percent | Response Count | |
| not applicable | | 20.6% | 118 |
| 0-3 months ago | | 21.3% | 122 |
| 3-6 months ago | | 22.2% | 127 |
| 6-9 months ago | | 12.8% | 73 |
| 9-12 months ago | | 13.5% | 77 |
| 1-2 years ago | | 7.2% | 41 |
| 2-3 years ago | | 1.8% | 10 |
| 3-4 years ago | | 0.2% | 1 |
| over 4 years ago | | 0.5% | 3 |
| answered question | 572 | |
| skipped question | 3 | |
| 8. On average, how many hours do you work each week? | |||
| Response Percent | Response Count | |
| Under 20 hours | | 0.4% | 2 |
| 20-30 hours | | 2.1% | 12 |
| 30-40 hours | | 27.1% | 155 |
| 40-50 hours | | 58.8% | 337 |
| 50-60 hours | | 9.6% | 55 |
| over 60 hours | | 2.1% | 12 |
| answered question | 573 | |
| skipped question | 2 | |
| 9. What percentage of your time do you spend on these tasks: | |||||||||||||
| None | < 10% | 10-20% | 20-30% | 30-40% | 40-50% | 50-60% | 60-70% | 70-80% | 80-90% | 90-100% | Rating Average | Response Count |
| Tactical IA (metadata, controlled vocabularies, etc.) | 29.3% (151) | 35.3% (182) | 15.5% (80) | 9.5% (49) | 4.7% (24) | 2.1% (11) | 1.0% (5) | 0.6% (3) | 1.2% (6) | 0.6% (3) | 0.2% (1) | 2.51 | 515 |
| Strategic IA (business models, high-level categorization) | 12.9% (69) | 19.4% (104) | 22.8% (122) | 15.9% (85) | 11.8% (63) | 6.2% (33) | 2.4% (13) | 3.2% (17) | 2.2% (12) | 2.1% (11) | 1.1% (6) | 3.75 | 535 |
| Usability testing | 12.8% (68) | 45.2% (240) | 23.4% (124) | 7.7% (41) | 4.1% (22) | 1.1% (6) | 2.3% (12) | 1.5% (8) | 0.6% (3) | 0.6% (3) | 0.8% (4) | 2.79 | 531 |
| Other user research | 9.5% (49) | 40.1% (206) | 26.8% (138) | 10.7% (55) | 6.6% (34) | 0.6% (3) | 2.3% (12) | 1.2% (6) | 0.8% (4) | 0.8% (4) | 0.6% (3) | 2.96 | 514 |
| Content generation | 42.1% (209) | 30.6% (152) | 11.9% (59) | 6.5% (32) | 3.6% (18) | 1.6% (8) | 1.0% (5) | 0.8% (4) | 1.2% (6) | 0.4% (2) | 0.2% (1) | 2.23 | 496 |
| Content management | 41.0% (206) | 27.0% (136) | 15.5% (78) | 6.0% (30) | 4.0% (20) | 1.4% (7) | 1.6% (8) | 1.6% (8) | 1.2% (6) | 0.8% (4) | 0.0% (0) | 2.36 | 503 |
| Interaction design | 6.4% (30) | 15.0% (70) | 15.9% (74) | 13.3% (62) | 12.4% (58) | 7.3% (34) | 7.9% (37) | 7.9% (37) | 7.1% (33) | 4.9% (23) | 1.7% (8) | 4.94 | 466 |
| Graphic design | 44.5% (223) | 27.1% (136) | 10.8% (54) | 6.2% (31) | 4.4% (22) | 1.8% (9) | 1.8% (9) | 1.2% (6) | 1.2% (6) | 0.6% (3) | 0.4% (2) | 2.32 | 501 |
| Database design | 78.4% (381) | 13.8% (67) | 4.7% (23) | 0.8% (4) | 1.0% (5) | 0.8% (4) | 0.0% (0) | 0.0% (0) | 0.2% (1) | 0.0% (0) | 0.2% (1) | 1.38 | 486 |
| IT integration | 63.7% (310) | 19.7% (96) | 9.2% (45) | 3.5% (17) | 1.6% (8) | 0.8% (4) | 0.6% (3) | 0.2% (1) | 0.4% (2) | 0.0% (0) | 0.2% (1) | 1.70 | 487 |
| Project management | 18.4% (96) | 35.7% (186) | 20.5% (107) | 10.9% (57) | 4.8% (25) | 2.1% (11) | 2.1% (11) | 1.2% (6) | 1.7% (9) | 1.9% (10) | 0.6% (3) | 2.97 | 521 |
| General business consulting | 37.0% (183) | 26.7% (132) | 16.0% (79) | 8.5% (42) | 3.6% (18) | 2.0% (10) | 1.2% (6) | 1.6% (8) | 1.6% (8) | 1.4% (7) | 0.4% (2) | 2.57 | 495 |
| General IT consulting | 61.9% (296) | 21.1% (101) | 8.4% (40) | 3.1% (15) | 1.5% (7) | 1.9% (9) | 0.6% (3) | 0.8% (4) | 0.2% (1) | 0.2% (1) | 0.2% (1) | 1.78 | 478 |
| Non-IA related administration/project management | 36.8% (179) | 36.6% (178) | 12.7% (62) | 6.0% (29) | 2.9% (14) | 2.1% (10) | 1.6% (8) | 0.8% (4) | 0.2% (1) | 0.4% (2) | 0.0% (0) | 2.23 | 487 |
| Travel | 40.2% (192) | 45.4% (217) | 11.1% (53) | 1.7% (8) | 0.4% (2) | 0.4% (2) | 0.4% (2) | 0.0% (0) | 0.2% (1) | 0.0% (0) | 0.2% (1) | 1.83 | 478 |
| Other | 62.6% (176) | 8.9% (25) | 12.1% (34) | 5.7% (16) | 3.6% (10) | 2.1% (6) | 1.1% (3) | 1.1% (3) | 1.1% (3) | 1.1% (3) | 0.7% (2) | 2.14 | 281 |
| answered question | 568 | |||||||||||
| skipped question | 7 | |||||||||||
| 10. If you answered "Other" in the previous question, please let us know what kind of activity you perform. | |||||
| Response Count | ||||
| 108 | ||||
| answered question | 108 | |||
| skipped question | 467 | |||
| 11. How long is your annual paid vacation? | |||
| Response Percent | Response Count | |
| not applicable | | 10.5% | 60 |
| under 6 days | | 0.9% | 5 |
| 6-10 days | | 8.7% | 50 |
| 11-15 days | | 34.6% | 198 |
| 16-20 days | | 22.4% | 128 |
| 21-25 days | | 15.6% | 89 |
| over 25 days | | 7.3% | 42 |
| answered question | 572 | |
| skipped question | 3 | |
| 12. How many public holidays do you get in addition to your paid vacation? (Also called "bank holidays") | |||
| Response Percent | Response Count | |
| 0 days | | 7.3% | 41 |
| 1-3 days | | 3.7% | 21 |
| 4-6 days | | 27.4% | 154 |
| 7-9 days | | 33.3% | 187 |
| 9-11 days | | 20.8% | 117 |
| 11-13 days | | 3.6% | 20 |
| 13-15 days | | 2.1% | 12 |
| over 15 days | | 1.8% | 10 |
| answered question | 562 | |
| skipped question | 13 | |
| 13. Does your job provide any of the following benefits? (check all that apply) | |||||
| Response Percent | Response Count | |||
| Comp Time | | 21.0% | 113 | ||
| Flex Time | | 54.4% | 293 | ||
| Bonus | | 61.2% | 330 | ||
| Profit Sharing | | 20.0% | 108 | ||
| Disability Insurance | | 58.8% | 317 | ||
| Health Insurance | | 83.1% | 448 | ||
| Life Insurance | | 67.9% | 366 | ||
| Flexible Medical Spending | | 58.1% | 313 | ||
| Stock Options Plan | | 25.4% | 137 | ||
| Stock Purchase Plan | | 26.7% | 144 | ||
| 401K or Other Investment Plan | | 66.4% | 358 | ||
| Pension Plan | | 24.5% | 132 | ||
| Professional Training on the Job | | 45.1% | 243 | ||
| Professional Development | | 59.9% | 323 | ||
| Tuition Reimbursement | | 48.2% | 260 | ||
| Child Care | | 9.7% | 52 | ||
| Union Membership | | 2.6% | 14 | ||
| Overtime Pay | | 7.1% | 38 | ||
| | 9.5% | 51 | ||
| answered question | 539 | |||
| skipped question | 36 | |||
| 14. How long have you worked at your present job? | |||
| Response Percent | Response Count | |
| under 3 months | | 9.3% | 53 |
| 3-6 months | | 9.8% | 56 |
| 6-9 months | | 9.3% | 53 |
| 9-12 months | | 8.0% | 46 |
| 1-2 years | | 23.4% | 134 |
| 2-3 years | | 13.1% | 75 |
| 3-4 years | | 5.1% | 29 |
| 4-5 years | | 4.7% | 27 |
| over 5 years | | 17.3% | 99 |
| answered question | 572 | |
| skipped question | 3 | |
| 15. How long have you worked as an information architect? (combine time worked at your current and past positions) | |||
| Response Percent | Response Count | |
| under 1 year | | 7.5% | 42 |
| 1-2 years | | 10.7% | 60 |
| 2-3 years | | 9.8% | 55 |
| 3-4 years | | 9.2% | 52 |
| 4-5 years | | 6.4% | 36 |
| 5-6 years | | 8.5% | 48 |
| 6-7 years | | 6.2% | 35 |
| 7-8 years | | 10.1% | 57 |
| 8-9 years | | 7.3% | 41 |
| 9-10 years | | 9.4% | 53 |
| over 10 years | | 14.9% | 84 |
| answered question | 563 | |
| skipped question | 12 | |
| 16. How many people does your company employ? | |||
| Response Percent | Response Count | |
| Self-employed | | 6.8% | 39 |
| 2-5 employees | | 0.7% | 4 |
| 6-10 employees | | 3.0% | 17 |
| 11-25 employees | | 5.1% | 29 |
| 26-50 employees | | 8.4% | 48 |
| 51-300 employees | | 19.8% | 113 |
| 301-750 employees | | 10.2% | 58 |
| 751-3000 employees | | 11.6% | 66 |
| over 3000 employees | | 34.4% | 196 |
| answered question | 570 | |
| skipped question | 5 | |
| 17. Where do you physically work? | ||||||
| Response Percent | Response Count | ||||
| At home | | 6.3% | 36 | |||
| Shared offices with other freelancers | | 1.1% | 6 | |||
| Own office | | 4.2% | 24 | |||
| Employer's offices | | 78.9% | 451 | |||
| Borrowed space on client's premises | | 4.7% | 27 | |||
| | 4.9% | 28 | |||
| answered question | 572 | ||||
| skipped question | 3 | ||||
| 18. Where do you work geographically? If you travel a lot, where is your base of operations? (U.S. regions are based on U.S. Census regions with the addition of Alaska & Hawaii as a separate category) | |||
| Response Percent | Response Count | |
| Africa | | 0.4% | 2 |
| Asia (except India) | | 0.5% | 3 |
| India | | 1.8% | 10 |
| Australia and Pacific Rim | | 3.9% | 22 |
| Canada | | 4.4% | 25 |
| Central America, Mexico, Caribbean | 0.0% | 0 | |
| EU (except the UK) | | 4.4% | 25 |
| United Kingdom | | 6.8% | 39 |
| Non-EU Europe | | 1.1% | 6 |
| Middle East | | 0.5% | 3 |
| South America | | 5.3% | 30 |
| US: Northeast (including D.C.) | | 24.4% | 139 |
| US: South | | 8.4% | 48 |
| US: Midwest | | 12.1% | 69 |
| US: West | | 26.0% | 148 |
| US: Alaska & Hawaii | | 0.2% | 1 |
| answered question | 570 | |
| skipped question | 5 | |
| 19. Are you located in or near a major metropolitan area? (Note: we know this is subjective, but give it your best shot) | |||
| Response Percent | Response Count | |
| Yes | | 92.7% | 522 |
| No | | 7.3% | 41 |
| answered question | 563 | |
| skipped question | 12 | |
| 20. If "yes" to the previous question, what is the name of this city? | |||||
| Response Count | ||||
| 530 | ||||
| answered question | 530 | |||
| skipped question | 45 | |||
This page was last modified on November 13, 2007 01:21 PM.