Software engineer salary
The median posted base pay for software engineer jobs is $192K a year, from 13,616 open jobs at 3,315 companies. The middle half of the jobs is from $158K to $225K. One job in ten has posted pay above $263K.
- Median posted base pay
- $192K
- Middle half of the jobs
- $158K to $225K
- 10th to 90th percentile
- $128K to $263K
- Open jobs with posted pay
- 13,616
- Companies
- 3,315
Software engineer pay by level
Posted base pay for software engineer jobs, by the level in the job title. A level needs 20 or more jobs with posted pay.
- Intern29 jobs$123K$113K to $132K
- Entry level176 jobs$140K$115K to $150K
- Level not stated6,622 jobs$175K$143K to $210K
- Senior4,272 jobs$194K$168K to $220K
- Staff1,576 jobs$230K$205K to $261K
- Principal435 jobs$238K$206K to $281K
- Director+506 jobs$248K$209K to $288K
| Level | 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th | Jobs with pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intern | $88K | $113K | $123K | $132K | $149K | 29 |
| Entry level | $92K | $115K | $140K | $150K | $171K | 176 |
| Level not stated | $115K | $143K | $175K | $210K | $250K | 6,622 |
| Senior | $141K | $168K | $194K | $220K | $244K | 4,272 |
| Staff | $181K | $205K | $230K | $261K | $292K | 1,576 |
| Principal | $175K | $206K | $238K | $281K | $322K | 435 |
| Director+ | $170K | $209K | $248K | $288K | $334K | 506 |
Top-paying companies for software engineer jobs
The companies with the highest median posted base pay for software engineer jobs. A company name opens its levels in the pay explorer.
- 1Mesh$750K7 jobs
- 2Anthropic$403K72 jobs
- 3Polymarket$400K6 jobs
- 4Axiom$393K5 jobs
- 5OpenAI$356K135 jobs
- 6Thinking Machines Lab$350K5 jobs
- 7Garner Health$340K8 jobs
- 8Mercor$330K8 jobs
- 9Veeam Software$328K9 jobs
- 10Roku$327K6 jobs
- 11Ivo Inc.$327K7 jobs
- 12Twenty$324K12 jobs
- 13Lambda$322K6 jobs
- 14Perplexity$313K22 jobs
- 15OpenArt AI$313K6 jobs
- 16Tenex$309K5 jobs
- 17ByteDance$303K9 jobs
- 18Decagon$300K15 jobs
- 19Triumph$300K6 jobs
- 20Suno$296K16 jobs
Software engineer pay by US region
The median posted base pay for software engineer jobs in each US region, compared with the median of all US jobs.
- Bay Area4,547 jobs+8%$210K
- New York2,336 jobs+8%$210K
- US remote2,314 jobs−2%$190K
- Other US cities4,922 jobs−6%$183K
| Region | Median posted base pay | Against the US median | Jobs with pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bay Area | $210K | +8% | 4,547 |
| New York | $210K | +8% | 2,336 |
| US remote | $190K | −2% | 2,314 |
| Other US cities | $183K | −6% | 4,922 |
| All US jobs | $195K | 0% | 12,184 |
Related pay pages
Other levels
By place
How we compute these numbers
We read each job from the job board of the company and check it every day. We use only open jobs that state a yearly pay range in US dollars. One job counts with the middle point of its posted range. The median is the middle value of these amounts: half of the jobs are above it and half are below it.
We do not use a range with a bottom below $15,000, a top above $1,000,000, or a top that is more than four times the bottom. A role page needs 20 or more open jobs with posted pay. In the bar chart, a company needs 5 or more jobs with posted pay.
The numbers are base pay as the company posted it. They are not the pay of a person, and they do not include stock, a bonus or benefits. For the stock and the bonus that people reported, see Reported pay.