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Software Developers Career, Salary and Skills

Software Developers have a BLS-reported national median annual wage of $135,980 based on the 2025 OEWS dataset, with reported national employment of 1,687,890. Wage data is published for 428 locations.

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Occupation description

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.

O*NET code

15-1252.00

Job zone

4

Typical education

Bachelor's Degree

Experience

Over 6 years, up to and including 8 years

National salary and employment

Median annual

$135,980

Hourly median

$65.38

Employment

1,687,890

Data year

2025

National salary distribution

$82,460
10th
$105,210
25th
$135,980
Median
$171,980
75th
$214,670
90th

Top skills

SkillImportanceLevel
Programming4.00—
Critical Thinking3.884.12
Judgment and Decision Making3.623.75
Systems Analysis3.503.88
Reading Comprehension3.504.25
Active Learning3.503.62
Active Listening3.383.88
Technology Design3.383.62
Complex Problem Solving3.383.50
Systems Evaluation3.384.12
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Typical tasks

  • 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.
  • Analyze user needs and software requirements to determine feasibility of design within time and cost constraints.
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Technology

  • FaceTime
  • Fault testing software
  • Figma
  • File server software
  • FileMaker Pro
  • Firewall software
  • Flipgrid
  • Formula translation/translator FORTRAN
  • Forth
  • Functional testing software
  • Gambit Scheme
  • Git
  • C
  • Spring Boot
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Software Developers salary by location

Areas with the highest reported employment for this occupation.

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Related careers

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Career and skills data: O*NET 31.0 (onetcenter.org). Salary and employment data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, 2025 (bls.gov/oes). Figures are published survey estimates, not real-time market data.