Across 3,921 live US postings for software engineers with a listed USD salary, measured November 2026, the median offer is $180,000–$252,000 a year. This is the tracked catalog, not the whole labor market.
Measured November 2026 · n=3,921 US postings with salary
Software engineer salary: $180,000–$252,000 a year, measured from live postings.
Every number below comes from 8,580 tracked live postings whose title matches "software engineer". No surveys, no self-reports. Listed salaries only, in US dollars.
- The median software engineer posting offers $180,000–$252,000 a year (n=3,921).
- 25.9% of the 8,580 live postings matching "software engineer" are remote.
- Builds AI software engineers list $185,000–$287,500, vs $172,500–$242,000 at Little AI.
Median salary by seniority (USD / year)
Seniority as tagged on the posting. Both salary bounds required.
| Segment | US postings with salary | Median min–max / year |
|---|---|---|
| Intern | 25 | $111,098–$124,800 |
| Junior | 94 | $130,000–$155,000 |
| Mid-level | 761 | $141,000–$198,000 |
| Senior | 2,165 | $184,000–$253,000 |
| Lead | 665 | $220,000–$300,000 |
Remote vs on-site (USD / year)
| Segment | US postings with salary | Median min–max / year |
|---|---|---|
| Remote | 1,042 | $186,130–$260,000 |
| On-site / hybrid | 2,879 | $174,400–$250,000 |
Companies hiring software engineers
Method
US-dollar postings whose title contains "software engineer", with both salary bounds listed. This page exists because 3,921 such postings clear the 50-posting floor Level requires before publishing a dedicated salary page. Below that, the median moves too much between ingestion cycles to be a citable number.
Sample: postings at tech companies tracked by Level. Not the whole labor market. Do not cite as a national average.
Refreshed automatically; this edition is measured November 2026. Small-n slices move a lot. Read the n column first.
Source: O*NET OnLine (U.S. Dept. of Labor): Software Developers (SOC 15-1252.00).
How many software engineers jobs are remote?
25.9% of the 3,921 live postings are marked remote by the employer, measured November 2026.
Does the AI level of the job change the pay?
In this sample, 1,286 postings build AI and 5,687 involve little AI. See the level breakdown below for the median at each level. Measured November 2026.