Software Engineer Salary Range
- Details
Is your software engineer salary average for your location, experience and mastered programming languages? Need to research software engineer and developer earnings for a potential career change? This dynamic guide features past, present and projected software engineer salary ranges from leading sources of unbiased employment data. Use our IT salary calculator, job search and education tools to maximize your software engineer salary. Check out the software engineer career path for a deep dive description of this red-hot position.
Historic Software Engineer Salaries
Salary range and wage fluctuations for software engineers and related professionals over a three year period:
| Job Title | 2018 Salary | 2019 Salary | 2020 Salary | 2-Year Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Software Engineer | $102,000 - $171,500 | $104,500 - $176,750 | $105,750 - $178,000 | + 3.7% |
| Software Developer | $97,000 - $163,000 | $98,250 - $166,500 | $99,250 - $171,000 | + 3.9% |
| Product Manager | $100,250 - $169,000 | $101,750 - $171,750 | $102,750 - $175,000 | + 3.2% |
| Mobile App Developer | $118,750 - $199,750 | $119,500 - $204,250 | $121,750 - $206,500 | + 3.1% |
| Applications Architect | $111,000 - $187,000 | $112,250 - $192,500 | $117,500 - $197,250 | + 5.6% |
Historic salary table notes: Salary ranges represent the American average. The lower figure in each range signifies the 25th percentile of workers (those with less skills and experience or living in a less competitive market) while the higher figure represents the 95th percentile (those with greater skills and experience).
 |
Source: Robert Half Technology 2018, 2019 & 2020 IT Salary Guides |
Skills To Boost Your Software Engineering Salary
Learn these sought-after skills to increase your earnings in the software space:
- Cloud architecture and application development
- Java, C#, PHP & Python programming
- SQL and Hadoop development
- DevOps Engineering
- Machine Learning (MI) & Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Software Engineer Salaries by State
| U.S. State / Location | Average Annual Wage | Average Hourly Wage |
|---|---|---|
|
Alabama
|
$96,400
|
$46.35
|
|
Alaska
|
$104,970
|
$50.47
|
|
Arizona
|
$98,670
|
$43.18
|
|
Arkansas
|
$87,960
|
$42.29
|
|
California
|
$127,950
|
$61.51
|
|
Colorado
|
$106,730
|
$51.31
|
|
Connecticut
|
$105,500
|
$50.72
|
|
Delaware
|
$106,730
|
$51.31
|
|
District of Columbia
|
$112,510
|
$54.09
|
|
Florida
|
$95,610
|
$45.97
|
|
Georgia
|
$105,240
|
$50.60
|
|
Hawaii
|
$84,340
|
$40.55
|
|
Idaho
|
$86,680
|
$41.67
|
|
Illinois
|
$96,610
|
$46.45
|
|
Indiana
|
$88,570
|
$42.58
|
|
Iowa
|
$88,570
|
$42.58
|
|
Kansas
|
$85,380
|
$41.05
|
|
Kentucky
|
$86,300
|
$41.49
|
|
Louisiana
|
$81,640
|
$39.25
|
|
Maine
|
$90,190
|
$43.36
|
|
Maryland
|
$108,850
|
$52.33
|
|
Massachusetts
|
$109,130
|
$52.47
|
|
Michigan
|
$92,260
|
$44.36
|
|
Minnesota
|
$96,750
|
$46.52
|
|
Mississippi
|
$85,470
|
$41.09
|
|
Missouri
|
$93,880
|
$45.14
|
|
Montana
|
$87,120
|
$41.89
|
|
Nebraska
|
$87,800
|
$42.21
|
|
Nevada
|
$105,640
|
$50.79
|
|
New Hampshire
|
$110,740
|
$53.24
|
|
New Jersey
|
$107,640
|
$51.75
|
|
New Mexico
|
$94,690
|
$45.53
|
|
New York
|
$116,830
|
$56.17
|
|
North Carolina
|
$103,280
|
$49.65
|
|
North Dakota
|
$80,620
|
$38.76
|
|
Ohio
|
$95,090 |
$45.72
|
|
Oklahoma
|
$86,360
|
$41.52
|
|
Oregon
|
$101,940
|
$49.01
|
|
Pennsylvania
|
$96,370
|
$46.33
|
|
Puerto Rico
|
$52,760
|
$25.36
|
|
Rhode Island
|
$96,850
|
$46.56
|
|
South Carolina
|
$90,830
|
$43.67
|
|
South Dakota
|
$75,000
|
$36.06
|
|
Tennessee
|
$87,630
|
$42.13
|
|
Texas
|
$108,760
|
$52.29
|
|
Utah
|
$99,070
|
$47.63
|
|
Vermont
|
$97,720
|
$46.98
|
|
Virginia
|
$113,690
|
$54.66
|
|
Washington
|
$131,790
|
$63.36
|
|
West Virginia
|
$87,490
|
$42.06
|
|
Wisconsin
|
$87,700
|
$42.16
|
|
Wyoming
|
$72,210
|
$34.72
|
 |
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics |
Best Paying Cities & Metro Areas for Software Engineers
- San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA | $144,050
- Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $133,590
- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $131,720
- Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT | $118,730
- Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | $117,450
|
Source: United States Department of Labor |
Software Engineer Salaries by Specialty & Experience
- Software QA Engineer: $77,000
- C++ Software Engineer: $83,000
- Software Engineer: $90,000
- Applications Software Engineer: $91,000
- Systems Software Engineer: $91,000
- PHP Software Engineer: $91,000
- Firmware Engineer: $92,000
- Perl Software Engineer: $93,000
- Mobile Application Developer: $94,000
- Python Software Engineer: $94,000
- Ruby on Rails Software Engineer: $94,000
- Java Software Engineer: $95,000
- Objective-C Software Engineer: $96,000
- Senior Software Engineer: $96,000
- Android Software Engineer: $96,000
- Lead Software Engineer: $98,000
- iOS Software Engineer: $102,000
- Web UI Software Engineer: 104,000
- Principal Software Engineer: $104,000
- Senior Java Software Engineer: $109,000
|
Source: Indeed.com |
Software Position Wages vs. Other IT Job Roles
- Technology Manager: $142,063
- Systems Architect: $129,952
- Product Manager: $114,174
- DevOps Engineer: $111,683
- Software Engineer: $110,989
- Hardware Engineer: $110,972
- IT Project Manager: $110,925
- Cyber Security Engineer: $110,716
- Applications Developer: $105,202
- Security Analyst: $103,597
- Database Administrator: $103,473
- Data Scientist: $95,404
- Business Analyst: $94,926
- Computer Programmer: $91,404
- Network Engineer: $88,280
- Web Developer: $82,765
- Systems Administrator: $82,624
- Technical Support: $60,600
- Help Desk Technician: $45,709
- PC Service & Repair: $41,310
|
Source: 2019 Tech Salary Report by Dice.com |
Software Engineer Training
Regardless of industry or geographic location, software engineers will continue to enjoy growing demand, significant advancement & entrepreneurial opportunities, and high earning potential. Start on your path to a six-figure software engineer salary today; browse our directory of software development training programs and work with an admissions advisor to craft an effective learning plan.
Find Software Development Schools
Software Engineer Resources
- Explore the software engineer career track
- Software engineer education requirements
- Software engineer training programs
- Find local software engineer jobs
- Software engineer job outlook
Web-based Software Engineer salary data refreshed annually.
Salary survey data updated annually upon release dates.
