Software Developers

Pay and outlook

Median annual wage, May 2025

$135,980

Half earn more, half earn less

Middle half earn

$105,210 – $171,980

25th to 75th percentile

People employed, May 2025

1,687,890

Wage and salary jobs (OEWS)

Projected change, 2025–35

+10.2%

Growing at twice the all-jobs rate or more (7%+)

Openings a year (projected)

95,300

New jobs plus replacing people who leave

Typical education to enter

Bachelor's degree

BLS

• All figures are for the United States as a whole. Pay varies a lot by state and city.
• Wages are for everyone working in the occupation in May 2025, at every career stage. They are not starting salaries or figures for new graduates.
• Growth and openings are BLS projections for 2025–35. They are estimates, not promises. Openings include jobs that open up when people retire or change occupation, not just new jobs.

What the work involves

Research, design, and develop computer and network software or specialized utility programs. Analyze user needs and develop software solutions, applying principles and techniques of computer science, engineering, and mathematical analysis. Update software or enhance existing software capabilities. May work with computer hardware engineers to integrate hardware and software systems, and develop specifications and performance requirements. May maintain databases within an application area, working individually or coordinating database development as part of a team.

Main tasks

• Analyze user needs and software requirements to determine feasibility of design within time and cost constraints.
• Develop or direct software system testing or validation procedures, programming, or documentation.
• Confer with systems analysts, engineers, programmers and others to design systems and to obtain information on project limitations and capabilities, performance requirements and interfaces.
• Modify existing software to correct errors, adapt it to new hardware, or upgrade interfaces and improve performance.
• Prepare reports or correspondence concerning project specifications, activities, or status.
• Analyze information to determine, recommend, and plan installation of a new system or modification of an existing system.
• Store, retrieve, and manipulate data for analysis of system capabilities and requirements.
• Design, develop and modify software systems, using scientific analysis and mathematical models to predict and measure outcomes and consequences of design.

Description and tasks from the O*NET® 31.0 Database.

Getting in

Typical education to enter (BLS)

Bachelor's degree

O*NET Job Zone 4

Considerable preparation

Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

Fields of study that lead here

From the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk, which links 20 programmes to this occupation. A link means the programme prepares people for this kind of work. It doesn't mean the programme is required, or that it's the only route.

Related careers

Related occupations from the O*NET database, in its order.

• Computer Systems Analysts

  $105,850 median · +7.9% projected

• Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers

  $104,300 median · +5.7% projected

• Computer Programmers

  $100,390 median · -7.3% projected

• Database Administrators

  $104,620 median · -0.1% projected

• Database Architects

  $139,500 median · +9.4% projected

• Computer Hardware Engineers

  $161,740 median · +9.1% projected