Software Engineering Salaries.
25 roles. 81 cities.
National salary data. Last updated April 2026.
Highest Paying
$190,000
Software Architect
Industry Median
$135,000
Software Engineer
Entry Level
$45,000
Software Engineering Intern
Salary data sourced from Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, H-1B Labor Condition Applications (DOL), state pay-transparency job postings, and community submissions. Ranges reflect 25th to 75th percentile for full-time positions. Last updated June 2026.
The software engineering industry includes 25 tracked roles with national median salaries ranging from $45,000 to $190,000. The highest-paying role is Software Architect at $190,000 national median. Software engineering is the backbone of the technology economy.
About software engineering salaries
Software engineering is the backbone of the technology economy. From frontend developers building user interfaces to backend engineers designing distributed systems, this industry encompasses the broadest range of technical roles. Compensation scales with specialization depth, system complexity, and the ability to deliver production-quality code at scale.
All software engineering roles by salary
| # | Role | Median | Range |
|---|
| 1 | Software Architect | $190,000 | $148,000 to $247,000 |
| 2 | Software Engineering Manager | $190,000 | $148,000 to $247,000 |
| 3 | Software Development Engineer III | $180,000 | $140,000 to $234,000 |
| 4 | Site Reliability Manager | $175,000 | $137,000 to $228,000 |
| 5 | Site Reliability Engineer | $170,000 | $130,000 to $220,000 |
| 6 | Full Stack AI Developer | $165,000 | $125,000 to $215,000 |
| 7 | DevOps Manager | $160,000 | $125,000 to $208,000 |
| 8 | Software Development Engineer II | $155,000 | $121,000 to $202,000 |
| 9 | API Product Manager | $145,000 | $113,000 to $189,000 |
| 10 | Design Engineer | $142,000 | $108,000 to $185,000 |
| 11 | API Gateway Engineer | $140,000 | $109,000 to $182,000 |
| 12 | Mobile Developer | $138,000 | $105,000 to $178,000 |
| 13 | Software Engineer | $135,000 | $105,000 to $175,000 |
| 14 | Frontend Reliability Engineer | $135,000 | $105,000 to $176,000 |
| 15 | Software Development Engineer | $135,000 | $105,000 to $176,000 |
| 16 | DevOps Engineer | $132,000 | $100,000 to $170,000 |
| 17 | API Developer | $132,000 | $100,000 to $172,000 |
| 18 | Embedded Systems Engineer | $130,000 | $98,000 to $170,000 |
| 19 | Software Developer | $130,000 | $101,000 to $169,000 |
| 20 | Backend Developer | $125,000 | $95,000 to $165,000 |
| 21 | Full Stack Developer | $125,000 | $95,000 to $165,000 |
| 22 | Mobile App Developer | $120,000 | $94,000 to $156,000 |
| 23 | Frontend Developer | $118,000 | $90,000 to $155,000 |
| 24 | API Documentation Writer | $95,000 | $74,000 to $124,000 |
| 25 | Software Engineering Intern | $45,000 | $35,000 to $59,000 |
Top cities for software engineering
Cities ranked by average median salary across all 25 software engineering roles.
| # | City | Avg Median | COL Index |
|---|
| 1 | San Jose, CA | $194,240 | 1.38x |
| 2 | San Francisco, CA | $190,160 | 1.35x |
| 3 | Honolulu, HI | $183,800 | 1.30x |
| 4 | New York, NY | $178,240 | 1.28x |
| 5 | Seattle, WA | $176,360 | 1.24x |
| 6 | Washington DC, DC | $175,000 | 1.25x |
| 7 | Arlington, VA | $171,320 | 1.22x |
| 8 | Boston, MA | $170,320 | 1.22x |
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