Software developer employment in the United States reached 1,687,890 jobs in May 2025, with a mean annual wage of $148,100. The latest BLS projection places the occupation at 1,892,600 jobs in 2035, while earlier OEWS tables show how employment and pay vary by industry, state, and metropolitan area.
Contents
- National employment and current wage levels
- Pay distribution and high-paying industries
- Projected employment growth and openings
- Industries employing software developers
- State employment concentration
- Metropolitan employment concentration
National employment and current wage levels
The BLS Occupational Employment and Wages release for May 2025 counted 1,687,890 U.S. software developer jobs. It reported a mean hourly wage of $71.20 and a mean annual wage of $148,100. These are estimates for the software developer occupation, SOC 15-1252, and the annual figure is the BLS estimate rather than an arithmetic conversion made here. BLS, Occupational Employment and Wages—May 2025
The corresponding May 2024 BLS release counted 1,654,440 software developer jobs. Its mean hourly wage was $69.50, and its mean annual wage was $144,570. The May 2024 and May 2025 figures come from separate annual releases, so they provide period-specific snapshots rather than a fully harmonized time series. BLS, Occupational Employment and Wages—May 2024
| Measure | May 2024 | May 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Software developer employment | 1,654,440 | 1,687,890 |
| Mean hourly wage | $69.50 | $71.20 |
| Mean annual wage | $144,570 | $148,100 |
The scope is important when interpreting the totals. OEWS employment counts exclude self-employed workers. The national wage figures are BLS estimates, and the releases should be read with their own measurement dates rather than combined with the later projection matrix as though every series described the same statistical product.
For readers comparing opportunities, the measures answer different questions. Employment counts indicate how many covered jobs were reported in a period. Mean wages summarize estimated pay across those jobs, while percentile wages show positions within the distribution. Projection figures describe a future scenario from the BLS model, and industry, state, and metropolitan tables describe where reported employment was located.
Pay distribution and high-paying industries
The May 2023 BLS software developer table shows a wide hourly wage distribution. The 10th-percentile wage was $37.03 per hour, the 25th-percentile wage was $48.65, and the median was $63.59. At the upper end, the 75th-percentile wage was $80.55 and the 90th-percentile wage was $100.30. A percentile describes the position of a wage within the reported distribution; it is not the same measure as the mean annual wage reported in another BLS release.
Industry-specific mean annual wages in the same May 2023 BLS table included several particularly high estimates:
- Software developers in web search portals and related information services had a mean annual wage of $215,840.
- The mean annual wage was $187,550 in taxi and limousine services.
- Media streaming, social networks, and other media networks reported $180,570.
- Computer and peripheral equipment manufacturing reported $179,480.
- Gambling industries reported $174,480.
These industry figures describe mean annual wages for software developers within the named industries in May 2023. They should not be read as guarantees for individual roles, nor should they be substituted for the May 2024 or May 2025 national mean. BLS, Software Developers
Projected employment growth and openings
The BLS national employment matrix for 2025–35 projects 1,717,800 software developer jobs in 2025 and 1,892,600 in 2035. The projected numeric change is 174,700 jobs, and the projected growth rate is 10.2% over the period. These are projections, not counts of realized employment.
The same matrix projects an annual average of 95,300 software developer openings over 2025–35. “Openings” is a projected annual average in this table, while the beginning and ending job levels are point-in-time projection values. Keeping those measures separate avoids treating annual openings as an additional employment count.
Software developers represented 1.0% of national employment in the 2025 matrix and are projected to represent 1.1% in 2035. The matrix also reports that self-employed workers account for 1.5% of the occupation in 2025. This projection source has its own scope and methodology; it should not be merged mechanically with the OEWS counts, which exclude self-employed workers.
| BLS projection measure | 2025 | 2035 or 2025–35 |
|---|---|---|
| Software developer jobs | 1,717,800 | 1,892,600 |
| Share of national employment | 1.0% | 1.1% |
| Projected numeric change | — | 174,700 |
| Projected growth | — | 10.2% |
| Annual average openings | — | 95,300 |
BLS, Occupational projections and worker characteristics
Industries employing software developers
May 2024 industry employment data show that software developers work across technology, finance, consulting, research, insurance, and employment services. Computer systems design and related services was the largest listed industry, employing 519,920 software developers. Software publishers employed 154,190, while management of companies and enterprises employed 99,720.
Other listed industry counts were 77,830 in computing infrastructure providers, data processing, web hosting, and related services; 53,760 in credit intermediation and related activities; and 50,260 in management, scientific, and technical consulting services.
Scientific research and development services employed 49,170 software developers. Web search portals, libraries, archives, and other information services employed 47,580. Insurance carriers employed 42,630, and employment services employed 39,820.
| Industry | Software developers employed, May 2024 |
|---|---|
| Computer systems design and related services | 519,920 |
| Software publishers | 154,190 |
| Management of companies and enterprises | 99,720 |
| Computing infrastructure, data processing, and web hosting | 77,830 |
| Credit intermediation and related activities | 53,760 |
| Management, scientific, and technical consulting | 50,260 |
| Scientific research and development services | 49,170 |
| Web search portals and other information services | 47,580 |
| Insurance carriers | 42,630 |
| Employment services | 39,820 |
The industry table is an employment-concentration view for May 2024, not a ranking of compensation. It also uses a different period and BLS product from the May 2023 industry wage estimates. BLS, Data tables for OEWS charts
State employment concentration
The May 2024 state table places the largest software developer employment counts in a group of populous and technology-intensive labor markets. California employed 292,630 software developers, followed by Texas with 151,460. New York employed 104,130, Washington employed 91,470, and Virginia employed 83,290.
Florida had 82,610 software developers. North Carolina had 57,590, New Jersey had 57,120, Illinois had 54,490, and Massachusetts had 54,260.
| State | Software developers employed, May 2024 |
|---|---|
| California | 292,630 |
| Texas | 151,460 |
| New York | 104,130 |
| Washington | 91,470 |
| Virginia | 83,290 |
| Florida | 82,610 |
| North Carolina | 57,590 |
| New Jersey | 57,120 |
| Illinois | 54,490 |
| Massachusetts | 54,260 |
These are state employment counts for May 2024. They are not wage rankings, growth forecasts, or measures of the percentage of each state’s workforce working as software developers. BLS, Data tables for OEWS charts
Metropolitan employment concentration
The May 2023 metropolitan BLS table provides both employment counts and location quotients. The San Jose–Sunnyvale–Santa Clara metropolitan area employed 96,590 software developers and had a location quotient of 7.75. The Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue area employed 75,960 and had a location quotient of 3.35, while the San Francisco–Oakland–Hayward area employed 83,920 and had a location quotient of 3.18.
Smaller employment totals can still coincide with substantial occupational concentration. Boulder employed 7,840 software developers and had a location quotient of 3.69. Huntsville employed 7,270 and had a location quotient of 2.65.
| Metropolitan area | Employment, May 2023 | Location quotient |
|---|---|---|
| San Jose–Sunnyvale–Santa Clara | 96,590 | 7.75 |
| San Francisco–Oakland–Hayward | 83,920 | 3.18 |
| Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue | 75,960 | 3.35 |
| Boulder | 7,840 | 3.69 |
| Huntsville | 7,270 | 2.65 |
The location quotient adds concentration context to the raw count: the reported values identify metropolitan areas where software developer employment was especially concentrated relative to the relevant comparison employment base in the BLS table. The metropolitan counts and quotients are from May 2023, so they should not be presented as current May 2024 or May 2025 totals. BLS, Software Developers