Software developers in their 20s are now treated like celebrities in pop culture. Hit TV shows like HBO’s “Silicon Valley” glamorize geekdom, and the public has never been more fascinated with young founders of billion-dollar tech companies.

Surprisingly, the fame and fortune of internet entrepreneurs has done little to attract more Americans to this field. In fact, there is a critical shortage of talented software developers at a time when the tech industry is booming.

According to jobs website Glassdoor, there are currently more than 2,500 unfilled software jobs in Missouri. These aren’t just traditional tech companies. As we live in an increasingly connected world, all types of industries are using mobile platforms and data to better serve customers. Even though this work is rewarding, it’s a challenge to hire software developers to build out these services. The $97,860 average salary in St. Louis reflects the high demand for these positions. These figures hold up across the state. In Joplin, software developers earn more than $86,000 on average. Still, the hard part is finding people to fill these positions. http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/spurning-tech-jobs-with-six-figure-salaries/article_5d826321-673a-5e5e-a5cf-e5406a1e9603.html