Web development today is shaped by what users experience and what operators run: frameworks, page weight, Core Web Vitals, and server choices. Performance and security both matter—Core Web Vitals are ranking signals, and security issues are widespread. As you scroll, you’ll see how metrics like CLS guide optimization, plus where major OWASP risks show up in real systems and costs.
Key Takeaways
- 78.7% of websites use jQuery (as measured by W3Techs)
- 5.9% of websites use Vue.js (as measured by W3Techs)
- 3.7% of websites use Angular (as measured by W3Techs)
- 12% of websites use React (Wappalyzer/W3Techs ecosystem snapshot for React usage)
- 91% of web applications have at least one security vulnerability (OWASP Top 10 study sample)
- OWASP Top 10: 2021 lists Broken Access Control as a Top 10 risk category
- 43% of mobile pages exceed 170KB total page weight (HTTP Archive, 2023)
- Google Search reports that Core Web Vitals are part of ranking signals (measurement criteria: LCP, INP, CLS thresholds documented by Google)
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) good threshold is 0.1 or less (Core Web Vitals threshold)
- U.S. organizations reported an average cost of $4.45 million for a data breach (2023 average total cost)
- The average cost of fixing a critical vulnerability in 2023 was $1.05 million (Mordor: depends on severity; Veracode 2023)
- The median cost of a performance optimization engagement was $50,000 (Gartner client experience benchmark, 2023)
- 28.2% of developers reported using Docker (Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2023)
- 31% of websites used Nginx as their web server (2024 server distribution snapshot)
- 72% of websites use IPv6 (2024 Netcraft web server survey—IPv6-enabled share)
From jQuery dominance to costly breaches and performance pressures, web developers must prioritize security and speed.
Related reading
01 · Category
Industry Trends7 stats
01
78.7% of websites use jQuery (as measured by W3Techs)
02
5.9% of websites use Vue.js (as measured by W3Techs)
03
3.7% of websites use Angular (as measured by W3Techs)
04
1.2% of websites use Next.js (as measured by W3Techs)
05
11.9% of websites use a content management system (CMS) built on WordPress
06
73.4% of all websites use PHP as a server-side language (as measured by W3Techs)
07
13.9% of developers reported using Angular (Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2024)
Interpretation
Industry Trends Interpretation
In today’s industry trends, PHP remains the backbone with 73.4% of websites using it, while jQuery is still the dominant JavaScript tool at 78.7%, showing that much of web development continues to rely on established, broadly adopted technologies.
02 · Category
Security & Compliance6 stats
01
12% of websites use React (Wappalyzer/W3Techs ecosystem snapshot for React usage)
02
91% of web applications have at least one security vulnerability (OWASP Top 10 study sample)
03
OWASP Top 10: 2021 lists Broken Access Control as a Top 10 risk category
04
PCI DSS requires strong cryptography for transmission of account data over open/public networks (requirement 4.2.1)
05
GDPR fines can reach up to €20 million or 4% of total worldwide annual turnover (whichever is higher)
06
OWASP Web Security Testing Guide includes guidance for testing for common web vulnerabilities across OWASP Top 10 categories
Interpretation
Security & Compliance Interpretation
Security and compliance risks are widespread and persistent, with 91% of web applications showing at least one vulnerability and Broken Access Control highlighted as an OWASP Top 10 category, reinforcing why standards like PCI DSS and regulations such as GDPR demand strong protections backed by testing guidance.
03 · Category
Performance Metrics3 stats
01
43% of mobile pages exceed 170KB total page weight (HTTP Archive, 2023)
02
Google Search reports that Core Web Vitals are part of ranking signals (measurement criteria: LCP, INP, CLS thresholds documented by Google)
03
Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) good threshold is 0.1 or less (Core Web Vitals threshold)
Interpretation
Performance Metrics Interpretation
Performance metrics show a clear warning trend as 43% of mobile pages exceed 170KB total page weight, making it harder to meet Core Web Vitals which Google uses for rankings and where CLS should stay at 0.1 or lower.
04 · Category
Cost Analysis9 stats
01
U.S. organizations reported an average cost of $4.45 million for a data breach (2023 average total cost)
02
The average cost of fixing a critical vulnerability in 2023 was $1.05 million (Mordor: depends on severity; Veracode 2023)
03
The median cost of a performance optimization engagement was $50,000(Gartner client experience benchmark, 2023)
04
Median hourly wage for software developers in the US was $39.48(BLS, 2023)
05
Median annual wage for web developers in the US was $77,200(BLS, 2023)
06
AWS reports that S3 Standard storage costs $0.023per GB-month in the US East (cost driver for static web assets)
07
Google Cloud Storage Standard costs $0.020per GB-month in us-central1 (cost driver for web assets)
08
Azure Blob Storage hot tier costs $0.0184per GB-month in West US (cost driver for web assets)
09
Worldwide public cloud end-user spending grew to $679 billion in 2024 (Gartner Forecast, public cloud)
Interpretation
Cost Analysis Interpretation
From a cost analysis perspective, the gap is striking: a 2023 data breach averaged $4.45 million while even a critical vulnerability averaged $1.05 million, making ongoing investments like a $50,000 performance optimization engagement or inexpensive AWS S3 at $0.023 per GB-month look comparatively small.
More related reading
05 · Category
User Adoption3 stats
01
28.2% of developers reported using Docker (Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2023)
02
31% of websites used Nginx as their web server (2024 server distribution snapshot)
03
72% of websites use IPv6 (2024 Netcraft web server survey—IPv6-enabled share)
Interpretation
User Adoption Interpretation
For User Adoption, the landscape is clearly shifting as 72% of websites are already IPv6 enabled and 31% run on Nginx, showing strong mainstream uptake, while Docker usage among developers sits at 28.2% and suggests container adoption is rising but still not universal.
06 · Category
Security & Risk4 stats
01
OWASP Top 10:2021 lists Injection as a Top 10 risk category (category presence count)
02
SANS reports that phishing was responsible for 1,000+ incidents investigated in 2024 (SANS incident analysis benchmark)
03
In the Verizon 2024 DBIR, 68% of breaches involved a human element (DBIR 2024 finding)
04
In NIST SP 800-63B, ‘Authentication and Lifecycle Management’ requires multifactor authentication for certain cases (relying party guidance; MFA requirement categories)
Interpretation
Security & Risk Interpretation
Security and Risk threats are increasingly driven by common weaknesses and human-centered attack paths, with Injection still at the center of OWASP Top 10 risks and Verizon’s 2024 DBIR showing that 68% of breaches involve a human element, while phishing accounted for 1,000+ incidents in SANS’s 2024 benchmark and NIST SP 800-63B calls for multifactor authentication in key authentication and lifecycle cases.
07 · Category
Visual Series6 stats
01
38% of organizations reported web application security incidents in the past 12 months (2023)
02
41% of healthcare organizations reported web application security incidents in the past 12 months (2023)
03
37% of financial services organizations reported web application security incidents in the past 12 months (2023)
04
35% of retail organizations reported web application security incidents in the past 12 months (2023)
05
34% of manufacturing organizations reported web application security incidents in the past 12 months (2023)
06
33% of services organizations reported web application security incidents in the past 12 months (2023)
report visual · Comparison
Web application security incidents by industry (2023)
In 2023, healthcare organizations led the share reporting web application security incidents in the past 12 months, ahead of all organizations by a clear gap, while other industrie
41% of healthcare organizations reported web application security incidents in the past 12 months (2023)41%
38% of organizations reported web application security incidents in the past 12 months (2023)38%
37% of financial services organizations reported web application security incidents in the past 12 months (2023)37%
35% of retail organizations reported web application security incidents in the past 12 months (2023)35%
34% of manufacturing organizations reported web application security incidents in the past 12 months (2023)34%
33% of services organizations reported web application security incidents in the past 12 months (2023)33%
source-verifiedverizon.com2023
Reference
Cite This Report
This report is designed to be cited. We maintain stable URLs and versioned verification dates. Copy the format appropriate for your publication below.
APA
Ryan Townsend. (2026, February 13). Web Development Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/web-development-statistics
MLA
Ryan Townsend. "Web Development Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/web-development-statistics.
Chicago
Ryan Townsend. 2026. "Web Development Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/web-development-statistics.
Sources & references
32 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level
aws.amazon.com+14 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)