Software Developer Salary in the US & Around the World

Even though the global labor market isn’t living through its best times, the software development industry is still one of the most developed ones on the global market and is proceeding to expand even more. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that the total employment of various software dev specialists will grow by 25% by 2031. It’s much faster than in other occupations.

Despite large-scale tech layoffs, the broader labor pool is not in true danger yet, given that staffing levels remained below pre-pandemic levels for some time, a Morgan Stanley research note said. Also, a software developer salary tends to be among the highest of the world market salaries in 2022. It is true, especially in today’s technological advancement and digitalization.

The industry has increased in scope and entertained newly emerging professions. Discover software engineering, web development, front-end and back-end development, mobile application development, game development, and other salary rates in this post. Being a reliable IT vendor with experienced dev specialists, Softermii will guide you in this process.

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A software developer salary guide — US and worldwide rates, plus the factors that affect pay.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects total software dev employment will grow 25% by 2031 — much faster than other occupations.

Factors affecting salary: supply/demand, experience, language/library knowledge, talent pool, company size, industry and location quotient.

IT experts can expect ~162,900 job openings annually from 2021–2031; median IT pay rose 4% in 2022 (vs 2.3% in 2021).

In the US, a junior software developer earns ~$75,315 on average; a senior averages $136,915 (up to $157,155).

Salary gaps elsewhere: Switzerland ~$81,770–$121,768, Canada ~$43k–$95k, Germany ~$49k–$95k.

Eastern European countries like Ukraine offer the most reasonable rates with top-notch quality.

The tech industry has a smaller gender pay gap — as little as $0.9 uncontrolled (PayScale).

Variations in IT Salaries: Reasons That Impact

Of course, you might have a question about why software developers make so much. It’s explained simply due to the increasing global need for their services and the extensive scope of knowledge and skills that programmers require for their professions.

Nevertheless, there are differences in how much software developers with the same job position earn in various locations. That’s because the cost of hiring software coders varies across different countries and even regions in one country.

It is safe, therefore, to say the disparity factor is due to the following:

• The disparity in the relations between the supply and demand for these software developers
• The wealth of experience that developers have garnered
• The knowledge of languages and libraries
• Talent pool size
• The company size
• The industry, e.g., eCommerce platform development allows one to earn more than the educational field
• Location quotient

Regarding location factors, for instance, the cost of hiring a web developer in the US will vary from hiring the same developer in Canada. In Europe, there are also some differences in salaries in the software development market, and we’ll delve into them in this article.

On top of that, we see a salary and employment rate growth tendency among such IT specialists as software developers and quality assurance specialists. In the 2021–2031 period, IT experts can expect about 162,900 job openings annually, following The Bureau of Labor Statistics.

As for salaries, the IT Salary Report 2022 shows that the median pay for IT experts increased by 4% in 2022. In comparison, in 2021, it was only a 2.3% growth. Such a boost is primarily associated with the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent economic issues, which forced tech workers to demand higher wages.

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Best-Paying Cities in the US for Software Developers

Since we first mentioned the United States of America, let’s look at software developer salaries in this country. Consider the best-paying cities in the US.

The Blind survey conducted among over 5 million software devs shows that the following cities in the United States provide the best compensation:

Check out the full Blind report to learn about 25 more cities with the highest salaries for software developers.

Best-Paying States in the US for Software Developers

Let’s now see which states of the US offer the highest average software engineering salaries. Here are some insights provided by Zippia as of November 2022:

Software Engineering Salaries in Europe vs. the United States

What is the average salary for a software developer in European countries? And how does it differ from that in the US? Let’s make a brief comparison.

As you can see, Eastern European countries like Ukraine offer the most reasonable rates in terms of hiring. Plus, the software engineering services in this region are of top-notch quality.

Salary Differences for Junior and Senior Software Developers

According to data from Salary.com, a junior software developer in the US earns about $75,315 on average. At the same time, the starting salary for a software developer is $68,820 and can reach $82,635.

The salary of a senior software developer is much higher since such a specialist has more experience, educational certifications, advanced skills, etc. The average annual salary of such an expert in the USA is $136,915. But it can range from $120,701 and reach up to $157,155.

As in other top-paying countries for software developers, the gap in salaries between junior and senior job positions varies in the next numbers:

• from around $81,770 to $121,768 in Switzerland
• from around $43.000 to $95.000 in Canada
• from around $49.000 to $95.000 in Germany

One more interesting facet of the software development industry is that it has enjoyed a lesser gender pay gap, which is smaller than those of other industries. According to PayScale data, the uncontrolled gender pay gap for individual contributors who work in the tech industry is as little as $0.9.

Skills That Affect Software Developer Salaries

Generally, a software engineer salary depends on the skill set and years of experience. But what are the competencies that can increase their pay?

A typical entry-level software engineer must have a relevant education or certification. Such specialists understand a limited set of technologies well. For example, those can be one or two programming languages like Python or PHP and some frameworks and libraries.

Becoming a senior software engineer takes way more effort. It requires an in-depth understanding of the technologies the specialist works with, knowledge of software architecture, and leadership skills to supervise the dev team.

According to Dice, some highest-paid tech skills involve proficiency in machine learning, augmented and virtual reality, and blockchain.

Salaries for Different Types of Software Developers

Given that the industry is quite large in scope, the market and the salary rates for the different software professions vary. Let’s go deep into how much it costs to hire various software developer types and how much they got for their job in 2022.

Read also: How to Extend Your Software Development Team

Web Developer Salaries

The unrelenting increase in the use of mobile devices and the growing popularity of the internet for searching, connecting, and publicizing has led to an increased demand for web developers.

Now, the rate of employment of web developers has been projected to grow by 23% between 2021 and 2031. It’s much faster than the average non-tech occupation.

Regarding payroll, the average annual pay for a web developer in the United States is $90,565 but can reach even $130,000 for high-experienced professionals.

Let’s also see what annual salary rate web developers can expect in other countries:

• About $99,718 in Switzerland
• About $60,246 in Canada
• About $51,699 in Germany
• About $45,922 in the UK
• About $22.648 in Poland

Front-End Developer Salaries

Front-end developers are claimed to have one of the most valued skill sets in the software development industry.

Here are some technical skills that will ensure a decent salary for such a specialist:

• HTML
• CSS
• JavaScript
• jQuery
• Git
• UX and UI frameworks
• Testing and debugging skills

Regarding payroll, a front-end developer can expect to get the following pay in different countries:

• About $110,134 in Switzerland
• About $107,349 in the US
• About $85,000 in Canada
• About $61,992 in Germany
• About $53,840 in the UK
• About $40.455 in Poland

Back-End Developer Salaries

Back-end developers create and maintain your website data architecture and infrastructure. In the simplest words, they make front-end code work according to its functions. So, these programmers have always been paid more than front-end coders when comparing the same job positions.

Back-end developers typically leverage the following technologies to earn well:

• Java
• C
• C++
• Ruby
• Perl
• Python
• Scala
• Go

The average back-end developer salary in the USA is $117,482 but can vary from around $95,000 to approximately $154,988.

As for these programmers’ payroll in other countries, it is as follows:

• About $96,750 in Canada
• About $99,584 in Switzerland
• About $67,161 in Germany
• About $59,778 in the UK
• About $40.471 in Poland

Programming Languages That Pay the Highest Salaries

As already mentioned, the average software engineer salary depends on location and the programming languages the developer operates. It’s explained by the demand for one or another programming language and what tasks it can solve in software development.

Let’s look at some most in-demand and most-used programming and scripting languages for 2022 as per the Stack Overflow survey:

The survey results are based on the 71,547 developer’s responses.

Yet, the highest-paying programming languages in 2022, according to the same survey, are the following:

DevOps Salaries Rates

The average cost for hiring a development and operations engineer (DevOps) in 2022 is $130,000 annually in the US. Such experts are well-paid and well-valued. 

Their value within the industry is still on the increase if they possess the following skills:

• Kubernetes
• Docker
• Apache Mesos
• Jenkins
• HashiCorp stack

DevOps engineer salaries in other countries are the following:

• About $115,520 in Canada
• About $115,343 in Switzerland
• About $71,754 in the UK
• About $67,163 in Germany
• About $33.426 in Poland

Mobile App Developer Salaries

The salary overview in 2022 varies widely across countries for mobile app devs. According to Talent.com, a mobile application developer in the US has average earnings of $115,480 per year. At the same time, Indian mobile app developers earn an average salary of $9,193 per year.

iOS and Android mobile development are the most profitable, where the first requires knowledge of Swift or Objective-C programming languages and the latter — Kotlin or Java.

The average salary of an iOS developer is around $125,000 in the USA. But this rate can reach up to $160,000 annually for a senior iOS app developer in the US.

In other countries, iOS developers make:

• About $110,049 in Switzerland
• About $97,500 in Canada
• About $67,201 in Germany
• About $62,784 in the UK
• About $38.397 in Poland

The average Android developer salary rate is $122,251 in the USA. Besides, more professional coders can earn $156,000 per annum.

Other countries offer the following rates for Android developers:

• About $115,278 in Switzerland
• About $97,500 in Canada
• About $67,225 in Germany
• About $65,792 in the UK
• About $28.318 in Poland

Data Scientist Salary Rates

Data scientists around the world are also having a field day concerning salary. A profound knowledge of SQL, R, and Python is essential for these specialists.

The average rate for such experts in 2022 reads about $127,264 in the US. An experienced senior data scientist will earn an average salary of $170,308.

In other countries, a data scientist can earn as much as

• About $115,320 in Switzerland
• About $94,669 in Canada
• About $67, 269 in Germany
• About $65,819 in the UK
• About $55.513 in Poland

Full-Stack Developer Salaries

Now, companies look for multi-skilled professionals who can work in both the front-end and back-end portions of an application. That is why full-stack developers are in increased demand.

Such experts typically leverage the following technologies:

• UX and UI frameworks
• CSS, JavaScript
• HTML
• Java
• C
• C++
• Ruby

According to Talent.com, the average pay for a full-stack developer in the US is $115,334 annually and can reach as high as $149,583.

The median salary for a software developer in other countries is as follows:

• About $106,969 in Switzerland
• About $85,225 in Canada
• About $61,800 in Germany
• About $59,800 in the UK
• About $50.568 in Poland

Game Developer Salaries

Custom game development is another productive profession in the world of software development.

Game developers can tell different stories, channels, puzzles, and challenges through games. To succeed in this field, game-developing professionals usually have to work with several artists, programmers, and even technical staff to develop new games and update older versions of some video games.

These experts also have to excel in the following technologies:

• DirectX
• OpenGL
• Unity 3D
• WebGL
• C
• C++
• Java
• Swift
• JavaScript
• HTML5

Which salary can a game developer expect in the US? It’s $100,000 on average. Yet, some states pay more:

In other countries, such a specialist can make the following:

• About $125,998 in Switzerland
• About $81,400 in Canada
• About $72,463 in Germany
• About $62,822 in the UK
• About $50.849 in Poland

Average Software Developer Pay vs. Other Best Jobs

There are other payrolls besides software developers salary that are worth considering. Let’s see how much specialists in different IT professions earn.

Here’s a breakdown of related IT salaries in the US as per Talent.com:

And these are the salary rates of popular IT professions in Canada:

Salary Forecasts for Software Developers in the Near Future

The software developer profession won’t fade away anytime soon. Moreover, average software engineering salaries will continue to grow steadily.

According to NodeFlair, the software engineering profession reached its all-time high in 2022, showing a salary boost of 22%.

We also observe that executives and hiring managers make considerable efforts to attract top talents to their teams. In particular, these efforts involve offering competitive wages. Here are some insights from Robert Half’s 2023 Salary Guide:

According to the same report, hiring managers plan to attract more tech talents to their teams. Still, there are significant skill shortages to overcome.

Thus, the demand for software engineers will increase, and so will the salaries. Plus, the technology field still has plenty of room for growth.

Software Engineer Salaries in Ukraine and Why You Should Prefer Them

Ukrainian software engineers are in increased demand in the international labor market. And here’s why. These specialists have a high level of professionalism while charging reasonable rates.

Let’s see how much Ukrainian software engineers earn.

According to DOU.ua, a junior software engineer from Ukraine will expect the following monthly pay:

The average rate for a mid-level specialist is as follows:

Speaking about senior software engineers in Ukraine, their average salary is as follows:

Comparing the salary for a software developer from Ukraine with a specialist from the USA, we can see a significant difference. While the average expert from the US will make $122,640 annually, a Ukrainian senior software engineer with top expertise will receive $56,400. It makes specialists from Ukraine particularly profitable for hire.

Summarizing IT Software Development Industry Salaries

From this software developers’ salaries overview for 2022, we can clearly understand that the software development industry is one of the highest costs in the world market.

Of course, it’s not a surprise at all. Almost any business needs a custom software solution that can automate many operations tasks or address customers’ needs to stay competitive. That’s why software development services are in high demand now.

However, software development prices vary depending on specialists’ skills, experience, and locations and can be affordable enough when hiring these services remotely in other locations. Thus, outsourcing is a real solution when you need high-quality software at a reasonable price.

But there is another problem. With the presence of so many outsourcing companies, only a few can be attested to being efficient.

We at the Softermii team are proud of being among these few due to our extensive expertise and experience in software development proven by our client’s success stories.

So, if you’re interested in a time-saving, not-costly, and easy-to-manage method for outsourcing your IT services, drop us a few words, and our experts will get back to you asap.