Software Developer Salary (2026), outlook and how to become one

Software Developers earn a median of $135,980 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025). That is 167% above the $50,980 median for all US occupations. That works out at $65.38/hr. The middle half earn between $105,210 and $171,980. The top 10% earn $214,670 or more.

The median hourly wage for software developers is $65.38 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). On a full-year basis the $135,980 annual median works out to about $11,330 a month before tax.

BLS does not publish a starting salary. The nearest measure is the low end of the pay range: the lowest-paid 10% of software developers earn less than $82,460 a year and the bottom quarter less than $105,210 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). New workers often start near that end, but where a particular job starts depends on the employer, the state and the credentials you bring, so read these as the bottom of the range rather than a guaranteed entry wage.

Yes, more often than not. The median is $135,980, so more than half of software developers earn over $100,000 a year; even the 25th percentile is $105,210 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). In 48 states the median itself is above $100,000: California ($174,410), Washington ($166,540), New York ($166,180), Massachusetts ($165,210), and 44 more.

The highest state medians for Software Developers are California ($174,410), Washington ($166,540), New York ($166,180) (BLS OEWS, May 2025).

BLS does not split software developers' pay by specialty or employer, but its range shows how far the top end runs: the highest-paid 10% earn more than $214,670, against a median of $135,980 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). Location moves pay the most in the published data: the best-paying states are California ($174,410), Washington ($166,540), New York ($166,180). Among the specialty careers inside this occupation, industry sources put typical pay at $1,080,000 for distinguished engineers (Levels.fyi company level pages (Microsoft, Google), 2026); $551,000 for principal software engineers (Levels.fyi End of Year Pay Report 2025, 2025); $457,000 for staff software engineers (Levels.fyi End of Year Pay Report 2025, 2025). Those are not BLS figures.

Yes. BLS reports a bachelor's degree as the typical entry-level education for Software Developers, and O*NET rates the preparation needed as considerable preparation. In O*NET's survey of people already doing the job, 84.8% hold bachelor's degree.

Yes, strongly. Employment is projected to grow 10.2% over 2025–2035, more than double the 3.5% projected for all occupations (BLS EP, 2025–2035). BLS still projects about 95,300 openings a year, mostly from workers retiring or moving to other work.

Software developers create the computer applications that allow users to do specific tasks and the underlying systems that run the devices or control networks. A core O*NET task: analyze information to determine, recommend, and plan installation of a new system or modification of an existing system. Employers most often ask for Analytical or scientific software, Application server software, Business intelligence and data analysis software.

Yes, for most. In O*NET's survey of people in the job, 8% of software developers usually work more than 40 hours a week, 90% work exactly 40 and 2% work fewer. 98% say their schedule is regular and 2% irregular. Source: O*NET 31.0 Database, Work Context.

O*NET scores Software Developers highest on the Investigative, Conventional and Realistic interest areas, so the work mixes investigating, analysing and solving problems with ideas and data with organising, following procedures and working precisely with data. On NueCareer's MBTI-to-interest mapping the closest types are ISTJ, INTJ. Personality is a fit signal, not a gate. The free NueCareer quiz scores your own profile against all 1,731 careers in the bank.

4 years for a bachelor's degree in computer and information technology or a related field. Some employers prefer a master's degree for particular roles. Internships during a degree are the conventional way to build experience before graduating.

Not a state license. No state licenses software developers. One genuine wrinkle is worth knowing: a few state engineering practice acts restrict the professional use of the word "engineer" itself. Texas Occupations Code section 1001.301(b) bars an unlicensed person from using "engineer" as a professional, business or commercial identification, but section 1001.301(f) lets a regular employee of a business entity who is exempt under the industrial exemption use the term on a business card or correspondence provided they do not offer engineering services to the public, and section 1001.057(d) expressly extends that exemption to work on computer software, firmware, hardware and semiconductor devices. So a "software engineer" title inside a product company is fine there; offering engineering services to the public under that title is not.

Women make up 20.3% of software developers, against 47.1% of all employed people: more men than in the workforce as a whole. Only 11.9% are 55 or older (23.2% across all jobs): a young workforce. The median worker is 38.6 years old (all workers: 42.1). Source: BLS Current Population Survey, 2025 annual averages.