Tech salaries soaring

Charleston's technology industry is anything but a struggling startup, according to a survey of "knowledge-based" workers released Thursday by the city's economic development office. That's more than double the average wage of $37,056 for the area based on figures from the state Employment Security Commission.

"We're not Silicon Valley but we have that kind of industry here, and it's diffuse. ... Those are the kind of jobs we want to see in the Charleston area," said Frank Hefner, an economist at the College of Charleston.

Area tech workers are also making one-fourth more, on average, than they were last year. Digital Corridor workers earned $66,582 in 2006, according to the city's year-old survey.

Ernest Andrade, a city economic development official who oversees the Digital Corridor, said local tech companies are paying more because they are doing better, cashing in on a stronger economy. And they are hiring more mid-level workers as they mature. "I've gone from interacting with 20-somethings to 30-somethings and even early-40-somethings," Andrade said. "And that's reflective of the strengthening of Charleston's knowledge economy because those are the folks that are further along and commanding higher wages."

Blackbaud Inc., the area's largest tech firm, has hired "across the spectrum" to bring its payroll to 1,600, according to spokesman Dennis Maxwell. Salaries at the Daniel Island-based software-maker have outpaced inflation. "It's been a stressed industry for some time now," Maxwell said. "There's not a lot of people wandering around."

The pay increases in Charleston reflect nation trends. H.L. Yoh Co., a Philadelphia-based staffing company that Fortune 500 firms use to set salaries, said wages at high-tech U.S. companies were up 4.3 percent in the second quarter of this year from the same period last year. The city surveyed 69 of the 80 companies that it considers "knowledge-based," firms that employ almost 5,000 workers.

Roughly one-third of those businesses responded, but the city did not weigh the data based on company size. As a result, the average wage at Blackbaud carried as much clout in the survey as the mean salary at Digital Lifestyle Outfitters, a wholesaler of iPod gear that has 20 Charleston workers.

Lucrative work

The average salary in the Charleston metro area is $37,056.

Here's a look at some of the top-paying occupations in the area for the fourth quarter of 2006: STOCK TRADING: $165,056. METAL MANUFACTURING: $79,816. CHEMICAL MANUFACTURING: 63,628. PAPER MANUFACTURING: $63,456. FORESTRY AND LOGGING: $60,304.