Info on Working as a Mobile App Developer in Tacoma, Washington

The city of Tacoma, Washington features a thriving commercial economy with many businesses in need of mobile apps.  Apps are used for finding friends, playing music, drawing diagrams, comparing costs and just about every other function you can imagine.  There's even a conversation starter app featuring intriguing, provocative remarks designed to avoid those unwelcome moments of awkward silence.  Already, Tacoma tech professionals by the thousands have landed lucrative local gigs as mobile app developers.

Tacoma Schools and Training Programs for App Developers

Aspiring Tacoma app developers often attain professional skills at accredited local schools.  Top Tacoma colleges with communications design and/or programming divisions include Pacific Lutheran University, University of Puget Sound and University of Washington at Tacoma. 

Meanwhile, just as many other local techies acquire professional skills online.  Popular accredited online colleges for app developers include Keller Graduate School of Management, National American University, Quinnipiac University, University of Liverpool and American Sentinel University, to name only a few.

Working as a Mobile App Developer in Tacoma, Washington  

Some Tacoma mobile app developers team up with local computer programming services like Foundation Technology, Secure Data Consulting, Topia Technology, Microlink Systems and Skye Technologies, for instance.  Other local techies develop mobile apps for Tacoma-based prepackaged software corporations like Talus360, Goathead Publishing, Web182 or Professional Computer Service.   
 
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics counts the cities of Seattle, Washington and Tacoma, Washington as a single statistical area in terms of local employment demographics.  According to the Bureau's reports, companies based in the cities of Seattle and Tacoma employ approximately 30,170 full time mobile app developers.  For 2011, they reported a mean hourly wage of around $47.70 and an average annual salary of about $99,220.  Independent freelance app developers working in Tacoma can easily earn earn a hundred dollars an hour or more from writing, consulting gigs, web development and other app-related contract work.  

Skills of a Professional App Developer

Mobile app developers are generally detail-driven high tech professionals with advanced organizational skills.  Technical skills pertinent to the successful development of mobile applications include programming, coding, digital graphics, photography, web page construction and debugging techniques which often include reverse engineering.  Professional app developers are also typically proficient writers, researchers, online networkers and mass marketing specialists.  Since developers often oversee the creation of a mobile app from start to finish, innovative conceptual thinking and project management skills are particularly important.