Explore Jobs
Find Specific Jobs
Explore Careers
Explore Professions
Best Companies
Explore Companies
Lead Developer salary
Average lead developer salary
$116,340
How much does a lead developer make?
The average lead developer salary in the United States is $116,340. Lead developer salaries typically range between $83,000 and $161,000 yearly. The average hourly rate for lead developers is $55.93 per hour.
Lead developer salary is impacted by location, education, and experience. Lead developers earn the highest average salary in California.
Where can a Lead Developer earn more?
Lead Developer salary estimates from across the web
Average lead developer salary by state
The average lead developer salary in California, Washington, and Delaware are the highest in the U.S. The lowest average lead developer salary states are Louisiana, Hawaii, and Alabama.
- State View
- County View
Highest paying states for lead developers
| Rank | State | Avg. Salary | Hourly Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nevada | $119,403 | $57.41 |
| 2 | Delaware | $124,034 | $59.63 |
| 3 | California | $131,948 | $63.44 |
| 4 | Washington | $129,013 | $62.03 |
| 5 | Oregon | $118,512 | $56.98 |
| 6 | New Mexico | $113,566 | $54.60 |
| 7 | Virginia | $116,873 | $56.19 |
| 8 | South Dakota | $111,318 | $53.52 |
| 9 | District of Columbia | $120,880 | $58.12 |
| 10 | Utah | $108,379 | $52.11 |
| 11 | Maryland | $118,444 | $56.94 |
| 12 | Pennsylvania | $112,567 | $54.12 |
| 13 | Massachusetts | $115,744 | $55.65 |
| 14 | New Jersey | $115,116 | $55.34 |
| 15 | Ohio | $109,602 | $52.69 |
| 16 | West Virginia | $114,745 | $55.17 |
| 17 | Rhode Island | $108,710 | $52.26 |
| 18 | Arizona | $113,904 | $54.76 |
| 19 | Connecticut | $115,359 | $55.46 |
| 20 | New Hampshire | $108,679 | $52.25 |
| 21 | North Carolina | $107,202 | $51.54 |
| 22 | Idaho | $105,229 | $50.59 |
| 23 | New York | $115,970 | $55.75 |
| 24 | Texas | $107,557 | $51.71 |
| 25 | Mississippi | $110,762 | $53.25 |
| 26 | Vermont | $107,352 | $51.61 |
| 27 | Montana | $103,271 | $49.65 |
| 28 | Georgia | $108,752 | $52.28 |
| 29 | Michigan | $106,748 | $51.32 |
| 30 | Nebraska | $101,353 | $48.73 |
| 31 | Tennessee | $105,216 | $50.58 |
| 32 | Arkansas | $98,369 | $47.29 |
| 33 | Indiana | $102,987 | $49.51 |
| 34 | Alaska | $102,110 | $49.09 |
| 35 | Kentucky | $102,021 | $49.05 |
| 36 | South Carolina | $105,235 | $50.59 |
| 37 | Florida | $102,785 | $49.42 |
| 38 | North Dakota | $99,356 | $47.77 |
| 39 | Illinois | $100,637 | $48.38 |
| 40 | Minnesota | $100,612 | $48.37 |
| 41 | Kansas | $93,313 | $44.86 |
| 42 | Colorado | $100,813 | $48.47 |
| 43 | Oklahoma | $94,740 | $45.55 |
| 44 | Wisconsin | $99,211 | $47.70 |
| 45 | Maine | $99,049 | $47.62 |
| 46 | Iowa | $98,713 | $47.46 |
| 47 | Alabama | $98,062 | $47.15 |
| 48 | Missouri | $98,719 | $47.46 |
| 49 | Louisiana | $98,219 | $47.22 |
| 50 | Hawaii | $98,098 | $47.16 |
| 51 | Wyoming | $86,929 | $41.79 |
Highest paying cities for lead developers
The highest-paying cities for lead developers are San Francisco, CA, Seattle, WA, and Washington, DC.
| Rank | City | Avg. Salary | Hourly Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Francisco, CA | $139,305 | $66.97 |
| 2 | Seattle, WA | $129,824 | $62.42 |
| 3 | Washington, DC | $120,996 | $58.17 |
| 4 | Rockville, MD | $118,181 | $56.82 |
| 5 | Arlington, VA | $117,610 | $56.54 |
| 6 | New York, NY | $116,430 | $55.98 |
| 7 | Boston, MA | $115,670 | $55.61 |
| 8 | Edison, NJ | $115,270 | $55.42 |
| 9 | Phoenix, AZ | $114,073 | $54.84 |
| 10 | Philadelphia, PA | $113,306 | $54.47 |
| 11 | Columbus, OH | $109,632 | $52.71 |
| 12 | Alpharetta, GA | $108,822 | $52.32 |
| 13 | Austin, TX | $108,240 | $52.04 |
| 14 | Raleigh, NC | $108,143 | $51.99 |
| 15 | Salt Lake City, UT | $107,826 | $51.84 |
| 16 | Jacksonville, FL | $105,097 | $50.53 |
| 17 | Columbus, IN | $103,274 | $49.65 |
| 18 | Denver, CO | $100,812 | $48.47 |
| 19 | Chicago, IL | $100,803 | $48.46 |
| 20 | Minneapolis, MN | $100,617 | $48.37 |
Lead Developers are the most in-demand in these five cities:
Lead Developer salary details
A lead developer's salary ranges from $83,000 a year at the 10th percentile to $161,000 at the 90th percentile.
What is a lead developer's salary?
| Percentile | Annual Salary | Monthly Salary | Hourly Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 90th Percentile | $161,000 | $13,417 | $77 |
| 75th Percentile | $138,000 | $11,500 | $66 |
| Average | $116,340 | $9,695 | $56 |
| 25th Percentile | $97,000 | $8,083 | $47 |
| 10th Percentile | $83,000 | $6,917 | $40 |
Highest paying lead developer jobs
The highest paying types of lead developers are senior/lead developer, lead software developer, and architect and developer.
| Job Title | Annual Salary | Monthly Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mobile Applications Developer | $99,257 | $8,271 | $47.72 | 252,254 |
| Data Warehouse Developer | $93,381 | $7,782 | $44.89 | 194,780 |
| Applications Developer | $89,205 | $7,434 | $42.89 | 279,877 |
| Architect And Developer | $110,970 | $9,248 | $53.35 | 316,181 |
| Mainframe Developer | $90,902 | $7,575 | $43.70 | 255,034 |
| Java/J2ee Developer | $90,995 | $7,583 | $43.75 | 237,912 |
Top companies hiring lead developers now:
Which companies pay lead developers the most?
Lead developer salaries at Mayo Clinic and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati are the highest-paying according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, the average lead developer salary at companies like Meta and Apple are highly competitive.
| Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mayo Clinic | $167,859 | $80.70 |
| 2 | Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati | $166,130 | $79.87 |
| 3 | Meta | $164,980 | $79.32 |
| 4 | Apple | $158,129 | $76.02 |
| 5 | Pure Storage | $157,306 | $75.63 |
| 6 | Netflix | $156,306 | $75.15 |
| 7 | Pacific Investment Management Company LLC | $150,550 | $72.38 |
| 8 | Bloomberg | $148,451 | $71.37 |
| 9 | Fox Broadcasting Company | $147,536 | $70.93 |
| 10 | Intuitive Surgical | $147,390 | $70.86 |
| 11 | $146,310 | $70.34 | |
| 12 | Square | $145,674 | $70.04 |
| 13 | First Republic Bank | $143,914 | $69.19 |
| 14 | Neuberger Berman | $143,814 | $69.14 |
| 15 | Cisco | $143,365 | $68.93 |
| 16 | Levi Strauss & Co. | $143,346 | $68.92 |
| 17 | Boston Consulting Group | $143,343 | $68.91 |
| 18 | Forest City Realty Trust | $142,307 | $68.42 |
| 19 | MySpace NYC | $141,560 | $68.06 |
| 20 | ViacomCBS | $141,244 | $67.91 |
Wage gap by gender, race and education
Lead Developer salary by industry
The average lead developer salary varies across industries:
- The average lead developer salary in the retail industry is $119,501, the highest of any industry.
- The average lead developer salary in the finance industry is $118,956.
- Lead developers in the professional industry earn an average salary of $109,814, the lowest of any industry.
Highest paying industries for lead developers
| Rank | Industry | Average Salary | Hourly Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Retail | $119,501 | $57.45 |
| 2 | Finance | $118,956 | $57.19 |
| 3 | Manufacturing | $115,629 | $55.59 |
| 4 | Telecommunication | $112,128 | $53.91 |
| 5 | Technology | $110,687 | $53.21 |
| 6 | Professional | $109,814 | $52.80 |
High Paying Lead Developer Jobs
Lead Developer salary trends
The average lead developer salary has risen by $21,598 over the last ten years. In 2014, the average lead developer earned $94,742 annually, but today, they earn $116,340 a year. That works out to a 10% change in pay for lead developers over the last decade.
Compare lead developer salaries for cities or states with the national average over time.
Average lead developer salary over time
Compare lead developer salaries for individual cities or states with the national average.
Lead Developer salary by year
| Year | Avg. Salary | Hourly Rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $116,000 | $55.93 | +3.3% |
| 2024 | $113,000 | $54.09 | +2.3% |
| 2023 | $110,000 | $52.87 | +1.8% |
| 2022 | $108,000 | $51.93 | +1.7% |
| 2021 | $106,000 | $51.06 | +1.8% |
Recently added lead developer salaries
| Company | Job | Location | Date Added | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apple Inc. | Development Lead | San Jose, CA | 12/17/2024 | $211,800 |
| Criteo Corp | Agency Development Lead | Boston, MA | 12/17/2024 | $120,640 |
| Maximus | Incident Response and Development Lead | West Virginia | 12/16/2024 | $145,000 |
| Hitachi | Lead Full Stack Developer | Dallas, TX | 12/16/2024 | $125,000 |
| Holman Automotive | Developer Lead | Maple Shade, NJ | 12/16/2024 | $97,450 |
| Techcratic | Oracle BRM Lead Developer | Nome, TX | 12/16/2024 | $89,741 |
| Hoffstech LLC | Learning Lead Developer Skills | Zachary, LA | 12/16/2024 | $83,459 |
| Campbell Soup | Market Development Lead | Harrisonburg, VA | 12/15/2024 | $57,400 |
| Campbell Soup | Market Development Lead | Myrtle Beach, SC | 12/15/2024 | $57,400 |
| DXC Technology | Developer Lead-Vantage ONE/WMA/Mainframe (USA Remote) | Bode, IA | 12/15/2024 | $105,100 |
Lead Developer salary FAQs
Search for lead developer jobs