Software Engineer Salary: Percentile Data by City

The 90th-percentile software developer in the United States earns more than $211,450 in base salary — more than four times the national median for all occupations. The 10th percentile earns $79,850. That $131,600 spread within a single occupation title is the number most compensation benchmarking articles bury or ignore entirely.

This analysis pulls from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program, May 2024 release — the most recent edition with full MSA-level detail — to show where software engineer base salary actually falls by city, and what total compensation looks like once equity grants and target bonus are added back in. The goal is a clean percentile map: you hand in your number, you find your position.

Key Numbers at a Glance

Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2024; SOC 15-1252 Software Developers. Occupational Outlook Handbook, BLS.gov.

What the Median Hides

$133,080 is the national median base salary for software developers as of May 2024. Half the field earns below that number, half above it — but the distribution is not symmetric. The gap from the median to the 90th percentile ($78,370) is roughly double the gap from the median down to the 25th percentile ($30,030). High earners pull the distribution upward sharply, which is why the BLS national mean annual wage for the occupation sits at $133,090 — nearly identical to the median — while top-MSA means run $40,000–$50,000 higher.

The practical implication: if your base salary is at the national median of $133,080, you are not necessarily underpaid — but you may be significantly below market for your specific city. A $133,080 base in Austin sits near the local median; the same number in San Jose places you well below the 50th percentile for that MSA. Reading BLS salary data by MSA rather than nationally is the only way to benchmark accurately.

The $65,950 spread between the 25th and 75th percentiles also signals something most coverage underweights: specialization and employer tier matter as much as geography. A developer at a financial services firm in Chicago may sit at the 60th percentile nationally despite earning $145,000, while a developer at a hyperscaler in the same city sits at the 80th on the same base.

Base Salary by Metro Area

Geography is the largest single variable in software developer base salary, and the spread across MSAs is wider than most compensation conversations acknowledge. San Jose’s annual mean wage for software developers — $180,320 per BLS OEWS May 2024 — is more than twice the figure in many mid-tier cities. For context, that mean is an annual mean, not median; in a market with Amazon, Google, and Meta, the mean is pulled upward by a concentration of senior engineers at higher pay bands.

Source: BLS OEWS May 2024 (SOC 15-1252). San Jose figure is a confirmed point estimate. SF, Seattle, NYC, DC, Boston, Austin, Dallas, Chicago figures are ranges derived from May 2023 OEWS MSA data (BLS.gov) and secondary analysis by Hakia Software Engineer Salary Guide (2026), both citing BLS OEWS May 2024. Ranges reflect variability across sources; readers should consult BLS MSA-specific pages for precise figures. Note: BLS publishes annual mean wage, not median, at the MSA level.

The San Jose premium over Chicago is roughly $50,000 in base salary — which sounds decisive until you factor housing costs. That is a data point worth sitting with: the geographic pay differential for remote workers makes this spread even more consequential if your employer allows location-independent pay.

Finluxy Compensation Percentile: Where Does Your Package Land?

Base salary alone is an incomplete benchmark for software engineers, especially at the senior and staff levels. The Finluxy Compensation Percentile positions a stated total compensation package within the BLS wage distribution for the same occupation and metropolitan area. Below are three illustrative examples calculated using OEWS May 2024 percentile data.

The BLS OEWS publishes national percentiles for SOC 15-1252. Percentile positioning for total compensation requires layering in equity grant value and target bonus on top of the base — since OEWS measures base salary only. For that comparison, the Levels.fyi 2025 End of Year Pay Report provides directional total comp data for the tech-employer segment, though its self-reported sample skews toward senior-level roles at large public companies.

Source: Finluxy Compensation Percentile calculation based on BLS OEWS May 2024 national percentile data (SOC 15-1252) and MSA-level mean wage data. Total compensation modeled as base salary + target bonus + annualized equity grant value. MSA percentile estimates are approximations derived from national distribution applied to MSA mean wage anchors; BLS does not publish full MSA-level percentile tables for this occupation. Equity and bonus figures are illustrative inputs; apply your actual figures for a precise position.

The San Jose example is instructive. A $165,000 base salary places that engineer at roughly the 85th to 88th percentile nationally — which sounds strong. Within the San Jose MSA, where the annual mean already sits at $180,320 and the concentration of $200k–$250k+ earners is high, the same $165,000 base is closer to the local median. National percentile positioning and MSA percentile positioning can diverge by 30 or more points for engineers in high-density tech markets. Both matter, and they answer different questions: national percentile tells you where you stand in the labor market broadly; salary benchmarking by MSA tells you whether you can recruit laterally to a similar role.

For total compensation versus base salary comparisons, the equity grant component creates the most variance at the senior level. Staff engineers at top technology companies reported median total comp of $457,000 in 2025 per Levels.fyi — with base salary typically representing only 35%–45% of that figure. Benchmarking base salary in isolation for this segment systematically understates how well-compensated (or underpaid) someone is.

The Overlooked Data Point: Government vs. Tech-Sector Pay Gap

Most software engineer salary coverage focuses on the FAANG premium versus “the rest of tech.” The figure that receives far less attention: the mean annual wage gap between the top-paying industry sector and the median-paying one within the same occupation code. Per BLS OEWS May 2023 industry data for SOC 15-1252, software developers in the Web Search Portals and Other Information Services industry — the category that captures companies like Google — earned an annual mean wage of $215,840, compared with $130,390 for the Computer Systems Design sector, which is the largest employer of the occupation. That $85,000 gap is industry-driven, not location-driven, and it persists after controlling for city.

This matters because location-based benchmarking captures only part of the variance. A developer at a regional consulting firm in San Francisco earning $155,000 may be at the 60th percentile for their MSA — but the same developer switching to a large-cap internet company in the same city would likely see their base jump to $190,000–$230,000. The gap between tech and non-tech compensation for engineers at the same seniority level is the number that most salary surveys fail to surface clearly because they aggregate across employer types.

Total Compensation: What BLS Misses

OEWS captures base salary. It does not capture target bonus, equity grant value, sign-on awards, or benefits. For a $150k+ household making job decisions, those omissions are not marginal — they can represent 50% to 150% of base at large technology companies.

Source: Levels.fyi 2025 End of Year Pay Report (self-reported, weighted toward large public technology companies; not representative of the broader software developer market). Base salary ranges are illustrative and cross-referenced against BLS OEWS May 2024 percentile anchors. Equity grant values annualized over a standard 4-year vest. Do not use these figures as a sole benchmark; they reflect the upper-market segment.

The equity grant is the variable that separates $150k total comp from $400k total comp for engineers at the same experience level. Understanding how to value RSU grants correctly — accounting for vest schedule, share price volatility, and tax treatment — is distinct from reading the grant dollar value at signing. A $200,000 RSU grant over four years is worth a very different amount depending on whether the stock is flat, up 30%, or down 40% over that period.

For the $150k+ household specifically: if you are a software engineer whose household income clears $150,000 on your base salary alone, you are at or above the 75th percentile nationally. If total compensation — base plus target bonus plus annualized equity grant — is what carries the household past $150,000, you may be at or below the 50th percentile in base salary within your MSA. That distinction has real implications for how you read compensation relative to peers and for any offer negotiation.

State-Level Context

State medians reflect labor market conditions, tax environment, and the presence or absence of major technology employers — not just cost of living. California’s software developer median of $170,910 (BLS OEWS May 2024) is the highest among states, but Washington’s $166,910 edges it out on a cost-of-living-adjusted basis due to the absence of state income tax. New York’s $161,260 and Massachusetts’ $150,520 round out the top tier.

Texas — often cited as a high-growth tech destination — reports a state median of approximately $130,500, close to the national figure, which reflects the wide variance between Austin and Dallas tech concentrations and the broader Texas labor market. That is a meaningful data point for any engineer considering relocation from a coastal market: the headline “no income tax” benefit is partially offset by a lower base salary market outside of the top MSAs. The household income picture by state extends this analysis to the broader household level rather than occupation-specific.

Applying This Data to a Compensation Negotiation

Three questions structure the most productive use of this data. First: what is your BLS percentile in your MSA, not nationally? The answer sets your baseline. Second: is the role you are benchmarking against in the same industry sector — technology company versus consulting versus financial services — since the industry gap within the same occupation and MSA can exceed $50,000? Third: what fraction of your total comp is base salary, and is the offer you are evaluating front-loading or back-loading compensation through equity?

Engineers at the $150k+ household income level are typically negotiating above the 75th percentile for base salary. At that position in the distribution, the marginal gain from base negotiation is often smaller than the gain from equity grant structure — grant size, vesting cliff, refresh cadence, and whether the grant is in RSUs or options. Understanding how finance-sector benchmarks compare to tech-sector packages at similar income levels also calibrates whether a lateral move across industries represents a real compensation change or just a reallocation of cash versus equity.

The BLS OEWS data used here is the most reliable public baseline for this occupation. It is a straight-time gross pay survey — it does not capture commissions, equity, or overtime. For a household with meaningful RSU income, the income picture looks quite different from what the BLS figure suggests. That gap is precisely why tracking compensation growth over time requires tracking total comp, not just base, and why the real gap between $100k and $150k household income often comes down to equity vesting events rather than incremental base increases.