Best-Paid U.S. Metro Areas for Software Developers in 2026: BLS Top 100
Highest-Paying U.S. Metro Areas for Software Developers: Top 100 by Median Annual Wage
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California, ranks first with a $213,110 median annual wage for Software Developers (SOC 15-1252). This 2026 snapshot uses U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics May 2025 metropolitan estimates.
The ranking covers 100 confirmed metropolitan areas and sorts the published BLS annual median wage from highest to lowest. All 100 rows are official_value observations. These wage estimates are not 2026 forecasts and do not measure total compensation such as employer benefits or equity awards.
Unit: nominal U.S. dollars per year. Source mode: single-source official BLS OEWS. Target period: May 2025. Status counts: 100 official_value, 0 calculated_value, 0 official_forecast, 0 modeled_projection.
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA, ranks first in BLS OEWS May 2025.
Wildwood-The Villages, FL, is the 100th metro in this ranking.
Metropolitan statistical areas only; nonmetropolitan areas are excluded.
National BLS median annual wage for Software Developers in May 2025.
BLS OEWS · USD/year · 100 official_value rows · 2026 publication snapshot.
Overview: What This Ranking Measures
The metric is the BLS OEWS annual median wage for Software Developers, SOC 15-1252. The median is the 50th-percentile wage: half of workers in the occupation are estimated to earn less and half are estimated to earn more.
This ranking compares the center of the published wage distribution across metropolitan areas. It is not a ranking by mean wage, number of software developer jobs, hiring demand, employment growth, senior-level compensation or cost-adjusted purchasing power.
OEWS measures wages for wage and salary workers in covered nonfarm establishments. Self-employed workers are excluded. The figures are nominal wage estimates and are not adjusted for housing costs, local taxes or differences in purchasing power.
Important interpretation note: OEWS values are survey-based, model-based estimates. This ranking orders the published point estimates, but small gaps between neighboring metros should not be interpreted as proof of a statistically meaningful difference in pay.
Top 10 Highest-Paying U.S. Metros for Software Developers
San Jose leads at $213,110, followed by San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont at $186,640. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue ranks third at $167,280.
Top 10 by BLS OEWS median annual wage, May 2025
| Rank | Metro area | Median wage | Region / Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $213,110 | CA · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 2 | San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $186,640 | CA · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 3 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $167,280 | WA · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 4 | New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | $166,830 | NY-NJ · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 5 | Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | $166,090 | MA-NH · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 6 | Boulder, CO | $164,560 | CO · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 7 | San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA | $163,270 | CA · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 8 | Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT | $162,650 | CT · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 9 | Manchester-Nashua, NH | $162,090 | NH · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 10 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | $160,920 | CA · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
Rank is based on the raw published annual median wage, descending. Close positions represent an ordering of BLS point estimates and should not be treated as evidence that small wage differences are statistically significant.
Top 20 Metro Areas by Median Annual Wage
San Jose stands well above the rest of the Top 20. The gap between first-ranked San Jose and second-ranked San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont is $26,470.
Methodology
The ranking uses the BLS OEWS annual median wage for Software Developers, SOC 15-1252, in metropolitan statistical areas. May 2025 values are sorted from highest to lowest without cost-of-living adjustment or projection.
Metric and Unit
Annual median wage for Software Developers, SOC 15-1252, in nominal U.S. dollars per year.
Snapshot
2026 publication snapshot using BLS OEWS May 2025 estimates. No value is projected to 2026.
Coverage
Metropolitan statistical areas with a published annual median for SOC 15-1252 are eligible. Nonmetropolitan areas are excluded.
State / Area Tags
The filter uses the state or multi-state abbreviations shown in the official BLS metropolitan area name, such as CA, NY-NJ or DC-VA-MD-WV. The tags are used only for navigation and do not change ranking values.
Ranking Rule
Higher raw annual median wage ranks higher. Equal published values are ordered alphabetically for deterministic display.
Missing Values
Suppressed or unavailable values are not estimated or imputed. No cross-source replacement values are used.
Data Status
Every included wage is official_value because the ranked annual median is directly published in the BLS OEWS dataset.
Source Hierarchy
The official BLS OEWS May 2025 metropolitan dataset is authoritative for all ranking values. Secondary sources are not used to replace or override BLS values.
Conflicts
No cross-source conflicts are averaged or reconciled because every ranking value comes from one official BLS OEWS dataset.
Rounding
Wages are displayed at the precision published by BLS. No additional rounding is applied before ranking.
Assumptions
No missing values are imputed and no cost-of-living, tax, inflation or purchasing-power normalization is applied.
How OEWS Estimates Are Produced
BLS describes OEWS as an employer survey of wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments. May 2025 estimates combine six semiannual survey panels collected over three years: May 2025, November 2024, May 2024, November 2023, May 2023 and November 2022.
BLS uses its model-based MB3 estimation method to produce detailed occupation and geography estimates. Survey responses and modeled information for unobserved establishments are combined to estimate occupational staffing patterns and wages.
How to Interpret Close Rankings
The rank orders published point estimates. This page does not test statistical significance between metropolitan median wage estimates. A small difference between adjacent metros should not be interpreted as proof that one labor market definitively pays more than the other.
What Is Included in the Wage Measure
OEWS wage concepts cover straight-time gross pay and can include base rates and specified forms of incentive pay. The measure is not equivalent to full employee total compensation and should not be interpreted as a measure of stock awards, employer benefit costs or every component of an individual employment offer.
Limits
The ranking does not measure hiring demand, employment growth, seniority, employer-specific pay bands, remote-work compensation, individual job offers or real purchasing power after local expenses.
Main Ranking: Top 100 U.S. Metro Areas
Search by metro, filter by the state or multi-state area tag shown in the BLS metro name, filter by data status, change the sort order or display the Top 10, Top 20 or all 100 entries.
Top 100 metropolitan areas by Software Developer annual median wage, BLS OEWS May 2025
| Rank | Metro area | Median wage | Region / Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $213,110 | CA · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 2 | San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $186,640 | CA · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 3 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $167,280 | WA · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 4 | New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | $166,830 | NY-NJ · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 5 | Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | $166,090 | MA-NH · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 6 | Boulder, CO | $164,560 | CO · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 7 | San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA | $163,270 | CA · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 8 | Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT | $162,650 | CT · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 9 | Manchester-Nashua, NH | $162,090 | NH · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 10 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | $160,920 | CA · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 11 | Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA | $159,430 | CA · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 12 | Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA | $158,290 | CA · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 13 | Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA | $156,910 | CA · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 14 | Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA | $156,000 | OR-WA · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 15 | Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | $154,930 | DC-VA-MD-WV · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 16 | Pittsfield, MA | $154,860 | MA · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 17 | Napa, CA | $153,130 | CA · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 18 | Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA | $148,630 | CA · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 19 | Worcester, MA | $146,950 | MA · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 20 | Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA | $146,200 | WA · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 21 | Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY | $145,830 | NY · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 22 | Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA | $139,640 | CA · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 23 | Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | $138,900 | MD · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 24 | Stockton-Lodi, CA | $138,550 | CA · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 25 | Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO | $137,610 | CO · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 26 | Vallejo, CA | $136,930 | CA · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 27 | Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC | $135,920 | NC-SC · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 28 | Durham-Chapel Hill, NC | $135,620 | NC · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 29 | Salinas, CA | $135,160 | CA · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 30 | San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA | $135,020 | CA · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 31 | Punta Gorda, FL | $134,510 | FL · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 32 | Rochester, MN | $134,450 | MN · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 33 | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN | $134,380 | IL-IN · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 34 | Asheville, NC | $134,350 | NC · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 35 | Colorado Springs, CO | $134,280 | CO · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 36 | Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX | $134,120 | TX · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 37 | Fort Collins-Loveland, CO | $133,990 | CO · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 38 | Kahului-Wailuku, HI | $133,870 | HI · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 39 | Barnstable Town, MA | $133,690 | MA · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 40 | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | $133,290 | TX · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 41 | Winchester, VA-WV | $133,290 | VA-WV · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 42 | Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA | $133,270 | CA · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 43 | New Haven, CT | $133,040 | CT · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 44 | Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | $133,040 | PA-NJ-DE-MD · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 45 | Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | $132,960 | GA · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 46 | Lexington Park, MD | $132,850 | MD · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 47 | Raleigh-Cary, NC | $132,770 | NC · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 48 | Sebastian-Vero Beach-West Vero Corridor, FL | $132,720 | FL · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 49 | Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL | $132,650 | FL · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 50 | Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT | $132,520 | CT · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 51 | Kokomo, IN | $132,390 | IN · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 52 | Charleston-North Charleston, SC | $132,150 | SC · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 53 | Merced, CA | $132,120 | CA · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 54 | Richmond, VA | $132,120 | VA · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 55 | Yuba City, CA | $132,120 | CA · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 56 | Glens Falls, NY | $132,040 | NY · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 57 | Wenatchee-East Wenatchee, WA | $131,970 | WA · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 58 | North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, FL | $131,890 | FL · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 59 | Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL | $131,760 | FL · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 60 | Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ | $131,750 | AZ · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 61 | Salem, OR | $131,620 | OR · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 62 | Boise City, ID | $131,590 | ID · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 63 | Chico, CA | $131,360 | CA · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 64 | Waterbury-Shelton, CT | $131,290 | CT · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 65 | Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT | $131,210 | UT · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 66 | Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | $130,920 | MN-WI · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 67 | Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI | $130,760 | MI · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 68 | Naples-Marco Island, FL | $130,730 | FL · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 69 | Providence-Warwick, RI-MA | $130,690 | RI-MA · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 70 | Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA | $130,690 | WA · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 71 | Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, FL | $130,640 | FL · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 72 | Madison, WI | $130,630 | WI · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 73 | Rocky Mount, NC | $130,600 | NC · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 74 | Peoria, IL | $130,590 | IL · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 75 | Carson City, NV | $130,500 | NV · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 76 | Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL | $130,450 | FL · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 77 | Bakersfield-Delano, CA | $130,330 | CA · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 78 | Jacksonville, FL | $130,330 | FL · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 79 | Kenosha, WI | $130,330 | WI · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 80 | Pinehurst-Southern Pines, NC | $130,240 | NC · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 81 | Jackson, MI | $130,220 | MI · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 82 | Grants Pass, OR | $130,120 | OR · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 83 | Longview-Kelso, WA | $130,000 | WA · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 84 | Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV | $129,940 | NV · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 85 | Medford, OR | $129,690 | OR · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 86 | Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL | $129,620 | FL · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 87 | Salt Lake City-Murray, UT | $129,600 | UT · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 88 | Greeley, CO | $129,480 | CO · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 89 | Ames, IA | $129,440 | IA · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 90 | Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX | $129,440 | TX · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 91 | Redding, CA | $129,230 | CA · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 92 | Syracuse, NY | $129,100 | NY · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 93 | Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC | $129,090 | VA-NC · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 94 | Fresno, CA | $129,060 | CA · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 95 | Bend, OR | $129,030 | OR · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 96 | St. Louis, MO-IL | $129,030 | MO-IL · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 97 | Trenton-Princeton, NJ | $128,770 | NJ · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 98 | Portland-South Portland, ME | $128,710 | ME · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 99 | Sherman-Denison, TX | $128,630 | TX · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
| 100 | Wildwood-The Villages, FL | $128,560 | FL · BLS OEWS · official_value · source May 2025 · target May 2025 · SOC 15-1252. |
All rows use BLS OEWS May 2025 annual median wage estimates for SOC 15-1252. Source period and target period are both May 2025. No missing value is filled, no outside salary source is substituted and no value is projected to 2026. Very small gaps between neighboring point estimates should not be interpreted as statistically proven differences.
Insights From the Top 100
Key Insight
San Jose leads at $213,110, $26,470 above second-ranked San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont.
Notable Pattern
The national median is $135,980. The first 26 metros in this ranking are above that benchmark; rank 27 is $135,920.
Regional / Source Concentration
Nine of the Top 20 metros carry the CA area tag. All 100 ranking values come from the same BLS OEWS May 2025 source.
Outlier
San Jose's $213,110 median is about 65.8% above the $128,560 value at rank 100. This describes the published estimates, not a cost-adjusted purchasing-power gap.
What the Ranking Means
A higher position means a higher published BLS annual median wage estimate for Software Developers in May 2025. It does not mean every developer in the higher-ranked metro earns more than developers in a lower-ranked metro.
The ranking is most useful for comparing one occupation, one wage measure and one source across metropolitan labor markets. Cost of living, employer-specific compensation, equity, seniority and individual job offers require separate analysis.
Close ranks deserve particular caution: OEWS values are estimates, and this ranking does not establish that small differences between neighboring metros are statistically significant.
FAQ
Which U.S. metro pays Software Developers the highest median wage?
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA, ranks first at $213,110 in BLS OEWS May 2025.
Are these 2026 salaries?
No. This is a 2026 publication snapshot using May 2025 BLS OEWS estimates. The values are not projected to 2026.
Are the metro wage values officially published?
Yes. The ranked annual median wages are directly published by BLS and are classified here as official_value.
What does median annual wage mean?
It is the 50th-percentile wage estimate: half of workers are estimated below the median and half above it.
Does the ranking measure total compensation?
No. It is an OEWS wage ranking, not a complete measure of employer benefits, equity awards or every component of an individual compensation package.
Are the wages adjusted for cost of living?
No. The figures are nominal wage estimates and are not adjusted for housing costs, taxes or local purchasing power.
Does a small difference in rank prove one metro pays more?
No. The ranking orders published point estimates. It does not test whether small differences between neighboring OEWS estimates are statistically significant.
Are self-employed software developers included?
No. BLS OEWS covers wage and salary workers in covered nonfarm establishments and excludes self-employed workers.
Sources
BLS OEWS May 2025 Metropolitan Dataset
Primary numeric dataset for metropolitan Software Developer wage estimates used in the Top 100 ranking.
BLS OEWS Tables
Official release page linking the May 2025 national, state, metropolitan and complete OEWS datasets.
BLS May 2025 Metropolitan Area Estimates
Fixed May 2025 metropolitan and nonmetropolitan area directory used for official BLS geographic names and area tags.
BLS Technical Notes for May 2025 OEWS
Fixed May 2025 methodology source for survey scope, six-panel design, MB3 estimation, wage concepts and exclusions.
BLS OEWS Data Type Dictionary
Official data dictionary identifying the annual median wage measure used for ranking.
BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook — Software Developers
Official supporting source for the national Software Developer median wage benchmark and occupation context.
https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/software-developers.htm
