City of Baltimore / Department of Public Works, Water and Wastewater / Systems Programmer I
Job-title file
Coordinate and deliver a specific program area, supporting planning, outreach, and daily operations.
1 employee holds this title in Department of Public Works, Water and Wastewater. Median total compensation for the role is $67,334, above the department median of $45,311.
Compared with the local labor market
Across all employers in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD area, the median wage for Computer Programmers — about 780 people — is $106,420. Department of Public Works, Water and Wastewater pays a median base salary of $67,334 for this role, 37% below that figure — below the 10th percentile of local pay for the occupation.
The bar is the range of annual wages for Computer Programmers across every employer in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD area, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with the middle 50% highlighted. The marker shows Department of Public Works, Water and Wastewater’s median base salary for this role. Both figures are base pay only.
And across the country
Nationwide, the median wage for Computer Programmers — about 92,230 people — is $100,390. Department of Public Works, Water and Wastewater’s median base salary is 33% below that national figure, about the 18th percentile of pay for the occupation nationally.
Local and national wages differ for reasons beyond how well a job pays — cost of living, the mix of employers, and local demand for the occupation all move the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD range relative to the national one.
Median total compensation for this role at Department of Public Works, Water and Wastewater is $67,334, which includes overtime and employer-paid benefits. The benchmark above excludes both, so total compensation is deliberately not compared against it.
Benchmark: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025). BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) covers all employers in the area — private, non-profit, and government alike — so this is a comparison against the whole local labor market for the occupation, not against private-sector pay. OEWS wages are straight-time pay and exclude overtime, shift differentials, and employer-paid benefits, so the government figure shown here is base pay on the same basis. Total compensation is not comparable to it. Job titles are matched to the closest standard occupation, so the comparison is between similar work rather than an identical job classification.
Compare departments
Systems Programmer I is held in 2 City of Baltimore departments. In Department of Public Works, Water and Wastewater, the median of $67,334 ranks #1 of 2.
Median total compensation for the Systems Programmer I role in other City of Baltimoredepartments (highest first). Each bar links to that department’s page for this role.
Compare jurisdictions
This role is reported in 3 jurisdictions. In City of Baltimore, the median of $71,352 ranks #2 of 3. See Systems Programmer across all of City of Baltimore →
Median total compensation for comparable Systems Programmer roles in other jurisdictions. Titles are matched by normalized name across sources, not identical job classification, and pay is not cost-of-living adjusted. Each bar links to that jurisdiction’s page for the role.
Same department
Record list
Page 1
Systems Programmer I/Department of Public Works, Water and Wastewater
Source-specific fields
At Department of Public Works, Water and Wastewater, Thomas Swigert serves as a Systems Programmer I. Their tenure dates to 1986, about 28 years. Their 2014 pay totaled $67,334.