Research Summary. After extensive research by the Zippia data science team, we identified these details of software engineer salary by state for the United States:
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California has the highest software engineer salary of $115,477
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Hawaii has the lowest software engineer salary of $66,259
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The national average salary for software engineers is $100,260
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The national hourly pay for software engineers is $48.2
You can read more on the specific methodology.
Background
Without fail, in surveys across basically every demographic, the number one most important aspect of a job for most people is the salary — how much do software engineers get paid where I live?
And while there are many things to go into how much you, specifically, can expect to make, there’s really good data for average salaries for software engineer by state across America broken down by seniority level. So while your city may be slightly different than the state average, these averages give you a rough sense of what to expect for your salary.
The state with the best salary for software engineers after this adjustment? That would be California.
Here’s a quick snapshot of the top ten states for software engineer salaries:
Let’s take a look at how we got here and a full ranking of all the states.
Highest-Paid Software Engineers By State
| Rank | State | Average Software Engineer Salary | 10th Percentile | 90th Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | $115,477 | $83,000 | $160,000 |
| 2 | Washington | $112,080 | $81,000 | $153,000 |
| 3 | New York | $92,846 | $70,000 | $121,000 |
| 4 | Nevada | $92,651 | $66,000 | $128,000 |
| 5 | Oregon | $91,473 | $66,000 | $125,000 |
| 6 | Arizona | $83,602 | $61,000 | $113,000 |
| 7 | Massachusetts | $83,582 | $64,000 | $108,000 |
| 8 | Maryland | $82,645 | $62,000 | $108,000 |
| 9 | Delaware | $82,336 | $62,000 | $108,000 |
| 10 | New Jersey | $82,074 | $62,000 | $107,000 |
| 11 | Virginia | $82,022 | $62,000 | $107,000 |
| 12 | Connecticut | $80,498 | $61,000 | $105,000 |
| 13 | Pennsylvania | $80,444 | $61,000 | $105,000 |
| 14 | Vermont | $80,333 | $62,000 | $103,000 |
| 15 | New Hampshire | $79,926 | $61,000 | $103,000 |
| 16 | Texas | $79,419 | $59,000 | $106,000 |
| 17 | Idaho | $78,961 | $57,000 | $108,000 |
| 18 | Rhode Island | $78,726 | $60,000 | $102,000 |
| 19 | North Carolina | $78,301 | $59,000 | $102,000 |
| 20 | North Dakota | $77,541 | $59,000 | $100,000 |
| 21 | Montana | $77,348 | $57,000 | $104,000 |
| 22 | Utah | $77,120 | $56,000 | $105,000 |
| 23 | Minnesota | $76,300 | $58,000 | $98,000 |
| 24 | Louisiana | $76,258 | $57,000 | $101,000 |
| 25 | Illinois | $75,772 | $58,000 | $98,000 |
| 26 | Maine | $75,766 | $59,000 | $97,000 |
| 27 | Alaska | $75,692 | $59,000 | $96,000 |
| 28 | Ohio | $74,727 | $57,000 | $97,000 |
| 29 | Michigan | $74,406 | $57,000 | $96,000 |
| 30 | Georgia | $74,244 | $56,000 | $97,000 |
| 31 | Arkansas | $73,164 | $55,000 | $96,000 |
| 32 | Iowa | $72,892 | $55,000 | $95,000 |
| 33 | Colorado | $72,814 | $54,000 | $97,000 |
| 34 | Wisconsin | $72,793 | $56,000 | $94,000 |
| 35 | West Virginia | $72,788 | $55,000 | $95,000 |
| 36 | New Mexico | $72,743 | $54,000 | $97,000 |
| 37 | Indiana | $72,602 | $55,000 | $94,000 |
| 38 | South Carolina | $72,455 | $55,000 | $94,000 |
| 39 | Kentucky | $71,499 | $54,000 | $93,000 |
| 40 | Nebraska | $71,346 | $54,000 | $93,000 |
| 41 | Tennessee | $71,046 | $54,000 | $93,000 |
| 42 | Mississippi | $70,644 | $53,000 | $92,000 |
| 43 | Florida | $70,541 | $52,000 | $95,000 |
| 44 | South Dakota | $69,944 | $53,000 | $91,000 |
| 45 | Kansas | $69,300 | $52,000 | $91,000 |
| 46 | Alabama | $69,250 | $52,000 | $90,000 |
| 47 | Wyoming | $68,674 | $51,000 | $91,000 |
| 48 | Missouri | $68,403 | $52,000 | $89,000 |
| 49 | Oklahoma | $68,061 | $51,000 | $89,000 |
| 50 | Hawaii | $66,259 | $52,000 | $83,000 |
Methodology: Software Engineer Salary By State
To better understand software engineer pay by state, Zippia has aggregated data across a multitude of channels including the BLS, FLC, and OPM. We then supplement that data with actual listed salaries from job posts. Finally, the data science team calculates a weighted average of these inputs to create an average pay for software engineers by state.
We took the average annual salary data for software engineers from these estimates and ranked every state on this criteria with the state with the highest salary ranking as highest average salary for software engineers.
Software Engineer Salary By State FAQs
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What is the highest-paid state for software engineers?
The highest-paid state for software engineers is California with an average salary of $115,477 per year.
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What city pays software engineers the most?
San Bruno, CA pays software engineers the most with an average salary of $126,992 per year.
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What is the worst state for software engineers?
The worst state for software engineers is Hawaii with an average salary of $66,259 per year.
Author
Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.
