Software Engineer Salary: What BLS Wage Data Says About Pay by State and Percentile

The median software engineer salary in the United States is $135,980 a year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics May 2025 survey. BLS counts software engineers with software developers, and reports a mean of $148,100. The middle half of workers earn between $105,210 and $171,980, and the state you work in changes the number more than anything else we can measure.

What Is the Median Software Engineer Salary?

BLS reports the national median for software developers at $135,980 a year, which works out to $65.38 an hour. Half of the workers in the occupation earn more than that, and half earn less.

The mean is $148,100, or $71.20 an hour. The mean sits above the median because a smaller group of very high earners pulls it up. When you want to know what a typical worker makes, use the median.

BLS counted 1,687,890 people in this occupation in May 2025. It is one of the largest technical occupations in the federal data, so the figures rest on a lot of workers.

How Much Do Software Engineers Earn at Each Percentile?

Percentiles show the spread. They answer the question “what do people at the low and high ends make?” better than a single average does.

• 10th percentile: $82,460. One in ten earns this much or less.
• 25th percentile: $105,210. A quarter earn this much or less.
• Median (50th): $135,980.
• 75th percentile: $171,980. A quarter earn this much or more.
• 90th percentile: $214,670. One in ten earns this much or more.

Read these as a range, not a ladder. BLS does not report pay by years of experience, so we do not give you bands such as “entry level” or “senior.” Those would be guesses.

Experience, skills and employer all push a worker up or down this range. The 10th percentile mixes new graduates with part-time and lower-paying jobs, and it is not a starting salary.

What Moves a Software Engineer Salary?

The survey gives us clear numbers on one factor, location, and we can say a little about the rest.

State. The gap between the best-paying and lowest-paying states is large, and we cover it below.

Experience. Pay climbs through the percentiles for many workers as they gain experience, but BLS does not say by how much. Be wary of any page that gives you a salary by year of experience from this survey.

Employer and role. The same title can mean different work at different companies. A role that builds AI features may sit higher in the range than one that maintains an older system, but the federal data does not split them.

Education. BLS lists a bachelor’s degree in computer and information technology or a related field as the typical entry education. It does not report pay by degree.

Which States Pay Software Engineers the Most?

California has the highest median at $174,410 and the most jobs, with 284,390 software developers. Here are the states with the highest medians and how many people work in them.

• California: median $174,410, 284,390 workers.
• Washington: median $166,540, 107,030 workers.
• New York: median $166,180, 113,510 workers.
• Massachusetts: median $165,210, 48,190 workers.
• Oregon: median $142,720, 21,830 workers.
• New Hampshire: median $139,720, 10,840 workers.
• Maryland: median $138,680, 31,350 workers.
• Colorado: median $138,390, 43,320 workers.

Ranked by annual mean wage instead, the top five are California at $186,770, Washington at $171,040, New York at $163,820, Massachusetts at $161,730 and Maryland at $151,560.

How Wide Is the Pay Range Inside a State?

The state median does not tell the whole story. In California, the 10th percentile is $105,060 and the 90th is $272,670. In Washington, they are $96,810 and $255,350.

That means a software engineer at the bottom of the California range earns about what the national 25th percentile earns, and one at the top earns well above the national 90th percentile of $214,670.

A high-paying state is not a guarantee. It raises the middle and the top, and the jobs at the high end are competitive. Living costs in those states are also higher, and the survey does not adjust for that.

Where Do Software Engineers Make Less?

The lowest medians are in Mississippi at $95,330, South Dakota at $96,310, Louisiana at $102,800, Arkansas at $104,490 and North Dakota at $105,600.

Some of those states have few software developers. Mississippi has 1,880 and South Dakota has 2,380, so a handful of jobs can move the number.

Large markets that are not at the very top still pay well. Texas has 163,880 workers and a median of $132,150. Florida has 87,890 and a median of $130,980. North Carolina has 58,470 and a median of $134,710. Virginia has 88,280 and a median of $136,460.

Can You Work Remotely and Keep a Big-State Salary?

Sometimes, but the federal survey does not tell us. It reports pay by the state where the job is located, and employers set their own policies on remote pay.

Some adjust pay to where you live, and some pay one rate for everyone. Read each posting before you decide, and ask about it in the interview.

The degree can be remote either way. Many online AI programs run on weekly deadlines or on-demand lectures, so you can study while you work. Our career page for software engineers covers duties, skills and how to get hired.

What Does an Online AI Degree Cost Compared With This Pay?

BLS lists a bachelor’s degree as the typical entry education, so start there. Prices below are from each school’s own pages.

Bachelor’s degrees. Dakota State University charges $373.80 per credit, or $44,856 for 120 credits before fees. Grand Canyon University totals $58,800. The University of Maryland Global Campus totals $59,880 at the out-of-state rate. The University of Tennessee-Knoxville totals $67,800. Western Governors University charges $4,200 per six-month term and lists about 24 months for its online BS in AI Engineering.

Master’s degrees. The median total on our list is $32,463. The lowest is The University of Texas at Austin’s online MS in Artificial Intelligence at $9,990 for 30 credits. Boston University’s MS in Software Engineering for Artificial Intelligence totals $25,000 and Penn State’s AI Engineering Option totals $32,670. Columbia’s costs $81,000.

See the full list on our cheapest online AI degrees ranking, or compare every online master’s in AI.

How Does Software Engineer Pay Compare With Other AI Jobs?

BLS tracks two other occupations that many AI graduates enter. Computer and information research scientists have a May 2025 median of $140,300, and data scientists have a median of $120,230.

Software developers sit between them at $135,980. The research scientist median is higher, but that occupation is far smaller, and BLS lists a master’s as its typical entry education. Software developers can enter with a bachelor’s.

That makes the software path the one with the most jobs and the most places to work. Our AI engineer salary page puts the three side by side.

How Should You Use These Numbers?

Use them to set a range, not to predict an offer. Start with the state where you plan to work, find its median and look at the national 25th and 75th percentiles to see how far above or below you might land.

Then check real postings in your area. Many list a pay range, and those ranges tell you more about current offers than a yearly survey does. The BLS data is a snapshot of what employers already paid in May 2025, and it is the most reliable benchmark we can cite.

Last, remember what the survey leaves out. It does not report bonuses, stock or benefits, and it does not break pay out by degree. A job with a lower base and strong benefits can be worth more than a higher base with none.

What Is the Hourly Pay?

If you are leaving an hourly or contract job, hourly numbers are easier to hold against what you earn now. BLS reports a national median of $65.38 an hour and a mean of $71.20 for software developers.

Those figures assume a full-time year, so a contractor who pays their own taxes and benefits should not compare the rates one to one. Ask what is included before you decide which offer is higher.

What Does a Mid-Sized State Pay?

If you do not plan to move to a coast, the middle of the list is worth a look. North Carolina’s median is $134,710, Virginia’s is $136,460, Colorado’s is $138,390 and New Jersey’s is $135,940. Those sit close to the national median of $135,980.

Texas is the second-largest market, with 163,880 workers and a median of $132,150. Illinois has 56,310 workers, and Florida has 87,890.

A median near the national figure with a lower cost of living can leave you better off than a higher salary in a pricier city. Compare the numbers against rent and taxes where you would live.

Is an AI Degree Worth the Cost for a Software Engineer?

It depends on what you hold today and what you would otherwise earn. We cannot promise a raise, because BLS does not report pay by degree.

Here is a way to think about it. The median master’s total of $32,463 is less than the national 25th percentile software engineer salary of $105,210. The cheapest master’s, at $9,990, is a small fraction of the median wage of $135,980.

That is cost, not return. The question that matters is whether the degree gets you a job you could not otherwise get, or a better one.

If you already hold a computer science degree and are working as an engineer, a master’s may add little. If you are changing fields, a degree can be the way in. Our guide on whether an AI degree is worth it walks through it with your own numbers.

What About Paying for School While You Work?

Many students keep their jobs while they study. Competency-based programs such as Western Governors University charge by term, so finishing faster costs less. Per-credit programs charge for every credit, so a part-time pace stretches the bill over more terms.

Ask each school about employer tuition help, military rates and transfer credit. The University of Maryland Global Campus lists $250 per credit for military students and accepts up to 90 transfer credits, and Brandeis gives a 15 percent tuition discount to military veterans, active-duty personnel and their spouses.

Compare the total, not only the rate. Fees and the number of credits change the real cost.

How Fast Is Demand Growing?

BLS projects 10 percent employment growth for software developers from 2025 to 2035, which it calls much faster than average. That adds about 185,400 jobs and about 106,100 openings a year.

Openings include people who leave the field. Projections are estimates, and BLS revises them each cycle.

BLS shows two job counts. The wage survey counted 1,687,890 workers in May 2025, and the projections start from 1,905,400 jobs. Use the first for pay and the second for growth.

For the AI-specific version of this job, see our page on AI engineer pay.