Software developers salary
| Measure | Annual | Hourly |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $82,460 | $39.64 |
| Median (50th percentile) | $135,980 | $65.38 |
| Mean (average) | $148,100 | $71.20 |
| 90th percentile | $214,670 | $103.21 |
These wages describe everyone employed in the occupation, from new entrants to experienced workers. They are not starting salaries and not earnings of graduates from any particular program. Verified data
Software developers pay by state and metro area
Table: median wage and employment for all 52 states and territories
| State | Median | 10th pct | 90th pct | Employment | Location quotient |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $122,540 | $71,590 | $175,330 | 17,450 | 0.76 |
| Alaska | Data unavailable | 530 | 0.15 | ||
| Arizona | $129,690 | $81,740 | $178,500 | 38,050 | 1.08 |
| Arkansas | $104,490 | $60,570 | $162,380 | 6,050 | 0.43 |
| California | $174,410 | $105,060 | $272,670 | 284,390 | 1.44 |
| Colorado | $138,390 | $96,480 | $213,010 | 43,320 | 1.39 |
| Connecticut | $134,120 | $85,930 | $205,160 | 13,660 | 0.74 |
| Delaware | $133,020 | $96,620 | $174,390 | 3,380 | 0.64 |
| District of Columbia | $136,880 | $85,140 | $197,000 | 6,120 | 0.8 |
| Florida | $130,980 | $80,050 | $204,400 | 87,890 | 0.82 |
| Georgia | $131,010 | $80,110 | $176,000 | 49,700 | 0.94 |
| Hawaii | $124,040 | $64,690 | $238,930 | 1,600 | 0.23 |
| Idaho | $131,590 | $71,030 | $178,980 | 5,750 | 0.62 |
| Illinois | $132,110 | $80,980 | $194,740 | 56,310 | 0.85 |
| Indiana | $105,920 | $74,850 | $164,650 | 14,130 | 0.41 |
| Iowa | $114,890 | $74,390 | $165,880 | 9,040 | 0.53 |
| Kansas | $113,420 | $71,690 | $165,740 | 13,580 | 0.87 |
| Kentucky | $109,010 | $76,310 | $168,110 | 7,660 | 0.35 |
| Louisiana | $102,800 | $66,350 | $151,780 | 4,080 | 0.19 |
| Maine | $123,120 | $82,930 | $179,990 | 2,790 | 0.4 |
| Maryland | $138,680 | $87,690 | $222,610 | 31,350 | 1.05 |
| Massachusetts | $165,210 | $102,810 | $213,970 | 48,190 | 1.22 |
| Michigan | $125,570 | $78,930 | $166,510 | 43,460 | 0.91 |
| Minnesota | $130,050 | $79,900 | $169,810 | 35,890 | 1.12 |
| Mississippi | $95,330 | $44,700 | $158,300 | 1,880 | 0.15 |
| Missouri | $126,120 | $72,570 | $169,340 | 20,020 | 0.63 |
| Montana | $121,990 | $73,370 | $221,400 | 2,160 | 0.39 |
| Nebraska | $110,900 | $77,520 | $158,720 | 7,260 | 0.65 |
| Nevada | $128,810 | $73,990 | $194,470 | 4,520 | 0.27 |
| New Hampshire | $139,720 | $92,510 | $205,370 | 10,840 | 1.46 |
| New Jersey | $135,940 | $84,880 | $207,200 | 51,570 | 1.11 |
| New Mexico | $124,520 | $77,110 | $184,710 | 3,960 | 0.42 |
| New York | $166,180 | $97,430 | $224,590 | 113,510 | 1.08 |
| North Carolina | $134,710 | $83,840 | $179,310 | 58,470 | 1.09 |
| North Dakota | $105,600 | $62,900 | $158,060 | 1,450 | 0.31 |
| Ohio | $114,090 | $77,790 | $168,400 | 44,790 | 0.74 |
| Oklahoma | $118,100 | $75,190 | $169,700 | 6,880 | 0.37 |
| Oregon | $142,720 | $83,070 | $213,540 | 21,830 | 1.02 |
| Pennsylvania | $126,550 | $77,750 | $178,080 | 55,920 | 0.85 |
| Puerto Rico | $79,380 | $49,610 | $107,680 | 2,020 | 0.2 |
| Rhode Island | $130,590 | $83,540 | $168,630 | 5,070 | 0.93 |
| South Carolina | $129,450 | $76,010 | $212,460 | 13,230 | 0.53 |
| South Dakota | $96,310 | $65,530 | $160,380 | 2,380 | 0.48 |
| Tennessee | $122,430 | $75,280 | $166,380 | 19,030 | 0.53 |
| Texas | $132,150 | $82,600 | $183,680 | 163,880 | 1.07 |
| Utah | $128,810 | $77,810 | $177,970 | 31,940 | 1.7 |
| Vermont | $125,280 | $82,480 | $209,420 | 1,740 | 0.53 |
| Virginia | $136,460 | $83,350 | $211,930 | 88,280 | 1.98 |
| Washington | $166,540 | $96,810 | $255,350 | 107,030 | 2.78 |
| West Virginia | $121,000 | $60,480 | $168,620 | 2,650 | 0.35 |
| Wisconsin | $122,660 | $77,710 | $168,630 | 21,730 | 0.68 |
| Wyoming | $115,170 | $72,950 | $156,620 | 1,510 | 0.49 |
A location quotient above 1 means the occupation is more concentrated in that state than in the nation overall.
Metro areas with the most jobs
Highest paying metro areas
Job outlook for software developers
- Average annual openings, 2025 to 2035: 95,300. Openings include new jobs plus replacement needs when workers retire or leave the occupation. Official projection
- Share of workers who are self-employed (2025): 1.5%.
- Read the official BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook profile.
These are official BLS projections. ConnectPrep does not alter them or present its own forecasts as official statistics.
Education and training for software developers
- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
- Related work experience
- None
- On-the-job training
- None
- O*NET Job Zone
- Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
Highest education of people working in this occupation
O*NET describes this preparation level as: Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
Degrees and programs that lead to this career
Programs officially mapped to this occupation in the NCES and BLS CIP to SOC crosswalk. A mapping means the program commonly prepares students for the occupation, not that every graduate works in it. Official crosswalk
- Artificial Intelligence CIP 11.0102
- Information Technology CIP 11.0103
- Informatics CIP 11.0104
- Computer Programming/Programmer, General CIP 11.0201
- Computer Programming, Specific Applications CIP 11.0202
- Computer Programming, Vendor/Product Certification CIP 11.0203
- Computer Game Programming CIP 11.0204
- Computer Programming, Specific Platforms CIP 11.0205
- Information Science/Studies CIP 11.0401
- Computer Science CIP 11.0701
- Modeling, Virtual Environments and Simulation CIP 11.0804
- Cloud Computing CIP 11.0902
- Computer Engineering, General CIP 14.0901
- Computer Software Engineering CIP 14.0903
- Computer Software Technology/Technician CIP 15.1204
- Mathematics and Computer Science CIP 30.0801
- Accounting and Computer Science CIP 30.1601
- Economics and Computer Science CIP 30.3901
- Linguistics and Computer Science CIP 30.4801
- Data Science, General CIP 30.7001
Licenses and certifications
AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Google Cloud Associate Cloud Engineer
Google Cloud
Requirements for regulated professions are set by each state. Always confirm with the state regulator.
Skills, knowledge, and daily work
Most important skills
Most important knowledge areas
Typical tasks
- Analyze user needs and software requirements to determine feasibility of design within time and cost constraints.
- Develop or direct software system testing or validation procedures, programming, or documentation.
- Confer with systems analysts, engineers, programmers and others to design systems and to obtain information on project limitations and capabilities, performance requirements and interfaces.
- Modify existing software to correct errors, adapt it to new hardware, or upgrade interfaces and improve performance.
- Prepare reports or correspondence concerning project specifications, activities, or status.
- Analyze information to determine, recommend, and plan installation of a new system or modification of an existing system.
- Store, retrieve, and manipulate data for analysis of system capabilities and requirements.
- Design, develop and modify software systems, using scientific analysis and mathematical models to predict and measure outcomes and consequences of design.
Technology skills
- Amazon Web Services AWS software (in demand)
- Apache Kafka (in demand)
- Atlassian JIRA (in demand)
- C (in demand)
- C# (in demand)
- C++ (in demand)
- Cascading style sheets CSS (in demand)
- Docker (in demand)
- Git (in demand)
- GitHub (in demand)
- Go (in demand)
- Google Angular (in demand)
- Hypertext markup language HTML (in demand)
- IBM Terraform (in demand)
- JavaScript (in demand)
- Jenkins CI (in demand)
Transferable skills for career changers: Programming, Judgment and Decision Making, Systems Analysis, Complex Problem Solving, Technology Design, Systems Evaluation.
Common job titles: Application Developer, Application Integration Engineer, Developer, DevOps Engineer (Development Operations Engineer), Infrastructure Engineer, Software Architect, Software Developer, Software Development Engineer, Software Engineer, Systems Engineer.
Is it worth it? Model the cost of getting there
Use the ROI calculator to compare the cost of the education this career usually requires against staying on your current path. It starts from the official wage distribution above, and you can change every assumption.
Frequently asked questions
How much do software developers make?
The national median annual wage for software developers was $135,980 in May 2025, according to the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program. The lowest paid 10 percent earned less than $82,460 and the highest paid 10 percent earned more than $214,670. These figures cover all workers in the occupation, not only new entrants.
What education do software developers need?
BLS lists bachelor's degree as the typical education needed to enter this occupation, with none of related work experience and none on-the-job training typically needed to become competent.
Is software developers a growing career?
BLS projects employment of software developers to change +10.2% from 2025 to 2035, compared with +3.5% for all occupations. About 95,300 openings are projected each year on average, including openings from workers who retire or change occupations.
Which states pay software developers the most?
By median annual wage in May 2025, the highest paying states were California ($174,410), Washington ($166,540), New York ($166,180). Pay differences partly reflect differences in living costs.