Read from employer job postings in the published Headcount Labs catalog on 11 October 2026. Pay is the range the employer advertised, in the unit it used.
Posted pay for software engineer jobs
| Measure | Yearly pay |
|---|---|
| Median low end of the posted range | $147,000 |
| Median high end of the posted range | $218,600 |
| Median midpoint | $181,000 |
| Middle half of midpoints | $145,500 to $220,800 |
| Postings that give a range, not one figure | 97% |
Another 228 software engineer jobs publish hourly pay instead, with a median posted range of $58.00 to $97.50 an hour. The two groups are kept apart; nothing is converted.
Software engineer pay by state
The 12 states with the most postings that publish pay.
| State | Jobs with pay | Median midpoint |
|---|---|---|
| California | 3,133 | $213,000 |
| New York | 762 | $202,500 |
| Maryland | 532 | $184,325 |
| Washington | 441 | $198,500 |
| Virginia | 357 | $155,000 |
| Texas | 289 | $169,000 |
| Massachusetts | 267 | $161,250 |
| Tennessee | 248 | $151,000 |
| Colorado | 230 | $145,000 |
| Illinois | 137 | $140,000 |
| Georgia | 101 | $140,600 |
| Minnesota | 93 | $129,009 |
Employers posting the most software engineer jobs with pay
| Employer | Jobs with pay | Median midpoint |
|---|---|---|
| Apple | 513 | $214,000 |
| Oracle | 347 | $169,550 |
| NVIDIA | 213 | $235,750 |
| OpenAI | 132 | $355,500 |
| Peraton | 124 | $175,500 |
| CBRE | 108 | $90,250 |
| Leidos | 103 | $151,475 |
| Mastercard | 100 | $149,500 |
| Roblox | 100 | $269,270 |
| Palo Alto Networks | 91 | $192,250 |
| Boeing | 82 | $149,000 |
Get these jobs and their pay with one request
Ask for software engineer jobs in the United States that publish pay. title matches the words as one phrase:
curl --request GET "https://api.headcountlabs.com/v1/jobs?title=software%20engineer&country=US&has_pay=true¤tness=current&limit=50" \
--header 'Authorization: Bearer <API_KEY>'Each record carries the pay range, currency and unit as published. Narrow it with state, city or pay_min; see the filters page.
Questions
What do software engineer jobs pay?
In 8,998 open US job postings that publish yearly pay, the median posted range runs from $147,000 to $218,600 a year as of 11 October 2026. Half of the range midpoints fall between $145,500 and $220,800.
Where do these figures come from?
From the pay range each employer wrote in its own job posting, read from the employer's career page. They are advertised ranges for open jobs, not what current staff earn, and not a survey.
Which jobs count as software engineer?
Jobs in the United States, paid in US dollars, whose title contains “software engineer” or “software developer”, leaving out titles that also contain manager, director, intern. Seniority words such as senior or lead stay in, so the figures cover every level.
How do I get the records behind the figures?
Send the request on this page. Each job comes back with its pay range, currency and pay unit, the employer, every location and the link to the employer's posting. The fields page lists everything in a record.
Can I try it before paying?
Yes. There is a free monthly allowance; the pricing page lists it and the paid plans.
Other roles
- Registered nurse$44.67/hr
- Sales associate$17.00/hr
- Licensed practical nurse$31.96/hr
- Caregiver$17.25/hr
- Security officer$19.25/hr
- Certified nursing assistant$20.05/hr
- Project manager$125,000/yr
- Maintenance technician$25.51/hr
Pull software engineer pay data
Create a key, run the request above, and check the pay against the employer postings.
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