Last Updated on Aug 25, 2021
Software engineers are some of the most sought after professionals in the IT and tech industry. With solid growth prospects and lucrative salaries averaging over $100,000 annually, becoming a software engineer is an attractive career option.
According to a report by Evans Data Corporation, there were approximately 26.4 million software engineers in the world in 2019 and this number is projected to grow by 28.7 million by 2024.
Despite such significant numbers, hiring software engineers remains the second biggest challenge for managers. It’s a highly competitive field requiring job-specific skills like knowledge of the tools used in an organization and different programming languages.
But before you dive deep deeper into the skill requirements, it’s important to know your salary prospects as well as what you might be expected to do as a software engineer.
Software Engineer Salaries: An Overview
The salary of a software engineer will vary depending on the job location, years of experience, job title and other factors.
According to Glassdoor, the annual base salary of a software engineer in the United States ranges between $72,000 to $200,000.
The salary varies in the following ways according to your title.
- Entry Level Software Engineer – $75,618
- Principal Software Engineer– $200,000
- Software Development Engineer– $100,000
- Software Development Engineer In Test (SDET)– $100,000Software Engineer II – $100,000
Software Engineer Salaries: According to Years of Experience
Relevant work experience clearly counts when negotiating your salary. In fact, this is the second most important hiring criteria — according to the State of Software Development report — next to only the willingness to learn.
Here’s a breakdown of annual average base salary according to years of experience as reported by Indeed.com.
- Less than 1 year – $94,988
- 1 to 2 years – $97,591
- 3 to 5 years – Data not available
- 6 to 9 years – $111,624
- More than 10 years – $127,883
These are some really encouraging numbers! What’s more, Indeed pegged the average base salary for a Software Engineer at $101,655 per year in the United States.
Software Engineer Salaries: According to Job Location
Your job location impacts your salary — a lot. So if you’re open to exploring opportunities in the United States, some of the top cities with the highest annual software engineer salaries are:
- San Francisco – $144,974
- San Jose, CA – $142,732
- Seattle – $128,342
- New York – $123,603
- San Diego, CA – $104,878
Become a Software Engineer
Without a doubt, software engineering is a burgeoning career opportunity and will only grow as more companies seek to hire qualified professionals. Additionally, knowledge of various programming languages like SQL, Java, JavaScript, Python, C++ etc. will come handy and give you a competitive edge.
Make no mistake, soft-skills like collaboration, problem-solving, creativity, planning and communication are equally important. As we said earlier, it’s a highly competitive field. It topped the “Best Jobs in America” list by U.S. News and World Report for the year 2020.
If you’re interested in this field, check out our free course in Software Development. You can further your education in programming by enrolling in any of our programming Nanodegree programs like C++ and SQL.
