Software Engineer Salary and Career Statistics

Every year new software engineers join the workforce.  Existing software engineers boost their careers and move into new roles.  Others branch out and try new things.  Some become business owners.  Some move into management positions.  Some retire early!

Needless to say, there's always a lot of change going on.  So I thought it would be interesting to look at the latest software engineer salary and other statistics and see what we see.  So let's do it.

We'll break the info out info the following general categories:

1. Demographics
2. Education
3. Who Hires Software Engineers
4. How Long In A Job
5. Software Engineer Salaries

Demographics

There are currently 4.3 MILLION software engineers in the United States.  Wow.

22% of them are female, and 78% are male.

52% are white, 33% asian, 6.9% hispanic or latino, 4.9% african american, and about 3% unknown.

46% of software engineers are over the age of  40, 36% are between 30 and 40, and 18% are between 20 and 30.

Education

73% of software engineers have a Bachelors degree.

20% have a Masters degree.

4% have an Associate degree.

1% have a diploma, and 2% have some other type of degree.

Who Hires Software Engineers

Companies

Who is hiring software engineers?

46% of the companies that hire software engineers have over 10,000 employees.

34% have 1,000 to 10,000 employees.

12% have between 500 and 1,000 employees.

About 4% of the companies that hire software engineers have less than 500 employees.

Industries

Here are the top 5 industries hiring software developers:

• 37% - Technology
• 21% - Fortune 500 companies
• 5% - Telecommunication companies
• 5% - Media companies
• 5% - Professional Services companies

Interestingly enough, the next 3 were actually this low on the list.  I thought they would be higher!

• 4% - Finance companies
• 3% - Start-up companies
• 3% - Manufacturing companies

So as you can see there, your dream of starting or working for that next up-and-coming start-up tech company could happen but the chances may only be about 3% :(

Location (US)

You might guess, but the majority of software engineer jobs are still found on the coasts- primarily in California and in the New England area.

However, especially since COVID, more and more companies have adopted a hybrid or fully remote work policy.  So even companies based on the coast are employing software engineers from the Midwest or other non-coastal regions.

How Long In A Job

45% of software engineers only stay at their job for 1 to 2 years before starting a new job. I am sure this is a combination of career advancement, role changes, and I assume some firings and resignations in there too.  But still- it's very interesting that almost half of software engineers only stay at their current job for 1 to 2 years.

24% stay for less than one year!

14% stay for 3 to 4 years.

10% stay for 5 to 7 years.

Software Engineer Salaries

Software engineers make, on average, about $100,000 per year.

The bottom 10% of that bell curve average around $73,000 per year.

And the top 10% of that bell curve average around $136,000 per year.

You might guess, but the highest paying software engineer jobs are usually found on the coasts.

Conclusion

Software engineer career opportunities continue to flourish. Wages are increasing yearly.  Companies of all sizes and industries are hiring. And you don't have to earn a PhD or even go to a 4-year college to become a software engineer.  Work hard, work smart, and have fun.

Watch the Video!

I've got a full video on this topic too- click below to watch it!