Salary report · 2026 to date
Software Engineering jobs in United States advertised a median of $188K a year in 2026 (middle half $142K–$237K), from 3,074 job postings on JobRipe. Figures come only from pay ranges employers published; estimates are never counted.
Number of postings by yearly midpoint. The first and last bands also hold the lowest and highest 5%.
Every row rests on at least 5 postings; groups with fewer are left out.
| Level | Middle half (yearly) | Median | ≈ hourly | Postings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Internship | $115K – $146K | $125K | $60.00 | 38 |
| Entry level | $105K – $145K | $125K | $60.10 | 54 |
| Mid level | $125K – $198K | $148K | $70.91 | 1,124 |
| Senior | $155K – $220K | $193K | $92.55 | 892 |
| Staff/Principal | $199K – $286K | $241K | $116 | 751 |
| Manager | $146K – $232K | $186K | $89.18 | 167 |
| Director | $187K – $258K | $232K | $111 | 37 |
| Executive |
JobRipe, "What Software Engineering jobs pay in the United States, 2026", https://jobripe.com/salary-reports/2026/us/software_engineering (23 October 2026).
Journalists and researchers are welcome to quote these figures with a link to this page. Questions about the data: support@jobripe.com
The median advertised pay is $188K a year (about $90.14 an hour), from 3,074 job postings on JobRipe that published a pay range between 5 January 2026 and 23 October 2026. Half of them fall between $142K and $237K.
One in ten postings advertised $300K a year or more; one in ten advertised $115K or less.
By median advertised pay, among cities with enough postings: San Francisco $275K; Bay Area $272K; Foster City $250K; Menlo Park $244K.
| $209K – $313K |
| $270K |
| $130 |
| 11 |
| Workplace | Middle half (yearly) | Median | ≈ hourly | Postings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| On-site | $145K – $244K | $197K | $94.83 | 1,464 |
| Remote | $127K – $207K | $161K | $77.45 | 1,306 |
| Hybrid | $210K – $306K | $248K | $119 | 304 |
| City | Middle half (yearly) | Median | ≈ hourly | Postings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $220K – $349K | $275K | $132 | 471 |
| Hawthorne | $123K – $193K | $143K | $68.51 | 166 |
| New York | $193K – $260K | $225K | $108 | 150 |
| San Mateo | $218K – $309K | $241K | $116 | 128 |
| Redmond | $125K – $161K | $141K | $67.91 | 106 |
| Sunnyvale | $174K – $238K | $200K | $96.15 | 73 |
| Mountain View | $193K – $271K | $235K | $113 | 69 |
| Long Beach | $155K – $219K | $185K | $88.94 | 49 |
| Menlo Park | $195K – $288K | $244K | $117 | 43 |
| Palo Alto | $148K – $215K | $198K | $94.95 | 43 |
| Seattle | $196K – $246K | $223K | $107 | 42 |
| Santa Clara | $192K – $251K | $225K | $108 | 34 |
| Bellevue | $210K – $282K | $243K | $117 | 32 |
| Denver | $182K – $213K | $201K | $96.63 | 23 |
| San Jose | $186K – $225K | $224K | $108 | 20 |
| Foster City | $210K – $305K | $250K | $120 | 17 |
| Oakland | $192K – $254K | $221K | $106 | 13 |
| Boston | $174K – $200K | $190K | $91.11 | 13 |
| Bay Area | $260K – $330K | $272K | $131 | 12 |
| Washington | $156K – $178K | $165K | $79.09 | 12 |
| Company | Middle half (yearly) | Median | ≈ hourly | Postings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SpaceX | $125K – $188K | $143K | $68.51 | 319 |
| Bright Vision Technologies | $125K – $140K | $125K | $60.10 | 191 |
| OpenAI | $309K – $366K | $356K | $171 | 112 |
| Roblox | $220K – $320K | $269K | $129 | 99 |
| Anthropic | $363K – $445K | $403K | $194 | 74 |
| Applied | $155K – $204K | $174K | $83.41 | 63 |
| Snowflake | $195K – $288K | $244K | $117 | 56 |
| Waymo | $177K – $281K | $238K | $114 | 52 |
| Databricks | $192K – $226K | $215K | $103 | 45 |
| Coinbase | $202K – $237K | $202K | $97.35 | 37 |
| Relativity Space | $155K – $192K | $179K | $86.06 | 37 |
| $229K – $260K | $229K | $110 | 36 | |
| Jobgether | $120K – $213K | $175K | $84.13 | 35 |
| Harvey | $242K – $286K | $268K | $129 | 34 |
| Affirm | $203K – $260K | $225K | $108 | 33 |
| Company size | Middle half (yearly) | Median | ≈ hourly | Postings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Startup | $180K – $248K | $230K | $111 | 9 |
| Small (under 50) | $178K – $240K | $220K | $106 | 56 |
| Mid-size | $185K – $248K | $213K | $102 | 389 |
| Large | $173K – $260K | $216K | $104 | 1,036 |
| Enterprise | $138K – $279K | $193K | $92.55 | 727 |
| Industry | Middle half (yearly) | Median | ≈ hourly | Postings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ai | $285K – $371K | $326K | $156 | 292 |
| Fintech | $202K – $260K | $219K | $105 | 166 |
| Devtools | $178K – $256K | $213K | $103 | 136 |
| Saas | $159K – $236K | $190K | $91.35 | 134 |
| Gaming | $220K – $320K | $269K | $129 | 103 |
| Data | $193K – $262K | $226K | $108 | 103 |
| Social | $198K – $260K | $229K | $110 | 82 |
| Hardware | $123K – $207K | $152K | $73.23 | 80 |
| Finance | $129K – $211K | $186K | $89.18 | 61 |
| Enterprise | $173K – $236K | $193K | $92.93 | 47 |
| Security | $177K – $229K | $201K | $96.68 | 40 |
| Health | $118K – $151K | $138K | $66.12 | 18 |
Median advertised pay is $161K for remote postings (1306) and $197K for on-site ones (1464). Remote and on-site roles also differ in seniority and employer, so this is not a like-for-like comparison.