IT professionals working in New York, Connecticut and New Jersey will make more money this year, according to research that estimates IT salaries in the tri-state area should increase on average by more than 5% in 2008.

Bluewolf, an IT resourcing and consulting firm, estimates that salaries in the greater New York area -- which Bluewolf says are typically about 25% more than the Northeast and West Coast, and 50% higher than the national average -- will continue to grow in the coming months. The Bluewolf research is primarily focused on salary data for the tri-state area encompassing New York, Connecticut and New Jersey as well as weekly interviews and conversations with 50 CIOs nationwide.

Application developers will see the biggest pay hike with expected increases of 7.6% bringing salaries to between $80,250 and $112,500, according to Bluewolf. Application architects will also see increases of about 7.5%, which would grow the average starting salary to between $87,250 and $120,000. Also in the 7% increase range is pay for project managers, who are expected to earn between $85,000 and $150,000 annually. (See how your salary stacks up in our annual salary survey.)

Other positions expected to experience compensation increases include quality assurance analysts, who might see increases of more than 5% in their pay and could bring home between $65,250 and $85,500 this year. And network security administrators' starting salary is forecast to increase by 3.7% in 2008, bringing the average pay for IT professionals with such skills to between $81,500 and $102,500.

Bluewolf, which provides staffing augmentation and placement services, also notes that database administrators continue to be in high demand and fall among some of IT's top earners with compensation ranging between $70,000 and $130,000.

"Companies are creating new IT jobs as fast or faster then they can export them overseas. These trends clearly lead to a rise in demand for IT professionals in the U.S., resulting in a significant increase in the average salary," said Michael Kirven, Bluewolf co-founder and principal, in a company statement.