Software developers: pay, outlook and skills
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.
Pay distribution and location comparison
These are published pay distribution points for everyone working in this occupation, not pay levels for junior, mid, or senior roles. Location figures are pay as published; no cost-of-living adjustment is applied.
United States, all industries
| Pay point | United States | Selected area |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $82,460 | - |
| 25th percentile | $105,210 | - |
| Median | $135,980 | - |
| 75th percentile | $171,980 | - |
| 90th percentile | $214,670 | - |
| People employed | 1,687,890 | - |
Source: OEWS May 2025, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (imported 9/17/2026) official file Reference period: OEWS May 2025.
Long-term outlook
Official ten-year projection for 2025 to 2035. Projected annual openings are an average per year over the decade, including openings from workers leaving the occupation. They are not a count of jobs open today.
Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-2035, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (imported 9/17/2026) official file Employment is published in thousands of jobs and converted here to people.
OptimizeResume analysis using U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data. This is not a BLS statistic or a prediction that an individual will be hired.
Score trend
Historical scores may be restated when BLS revises underlying data. The chart uses the latest restated values.
Confidence
- At least 90% of required inputs and occupation-industry mapping are covered.
How this score is built
Monthly industry demand is mapped to this occupation using official occupation-industry relationships, then combined with occupation fundamentals and long-term projections.
Read Methodology v1.0Skills, software, and day-to-day work
Skill values are O*NET importance ratings on a 1-5 scale for the occupation itself. They describe what the work requires, not how much employers are hiring right now.
Most important skills
- Programming4.0 / 5
- Critical Thinking3.9 / 5
- Judgment and Decision Making3.6 / 5
- Active Learning3.5 / 5
- Reading Comprehension3.5 / 5
- Systems Analysis3.5 / 5
- Active Listening3.4 / 5
- Complex Problem Solving3.4 / 5
- Systems Evaluation3.4 / 5
- Technology Design3.4 / 5
- Operations Analysis3.3 / 5
- Writing3.3 / 5
O*NET importance rating, 1 (not important) to 5 (extremely important).
Software and technology
- Development environment softwareApache Kafka (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology), C (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology), Go (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology), Microsoft Azure software (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology), Apache Maven (hot technology), Eclipse IDE (hot technology)
- Object or component oriented development softwareC# (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology), C++ (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology), Oracle Java (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology), Python (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology), TypeScript (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology), Apache Spark (hot technology)
- Data base user interface and query softwareAmazon Web Services AWS software (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology), Structured query language SQL (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology), Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud EC2 (hot technology), Amazon Redshift (hot technology), Apache Hive (hot technology), GraphQL (hot technology)
- Web platform development softwareCascading style sheets CSS (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology), Google Angular (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology), Hypertext markup language HTML (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology), JavaScript (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology), Node.js (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology), React (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology)
- Data base management system softwareNoSQL (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology), Amazon DynamoDB (hot technology), Apache Cassandra (hot technology), Apache Hadoop (hot technology), Elasticsearch (hot technology), MongoDB (hot technology)
- Operating system softwareLinux (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology), Apple iOS (hot technology), Apple macOS (hot technology), Bash (hot technology), Google Android (hot technology), Microsoft Windows (hot technology)
- Enterprise application integration softwareJenkins CI (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology), Extensible markup language XML (hot technology), Microsoft Power Automate (hot technology), Microsoft Power Platform software (hot technology), Microsoft SQL Server Integration Services SSIS (hot technology), Atlassian Bamboo
- Application server softwareDocker (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology), GitHub (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology), Kubernetes (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology), Spring Boot (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology), Atlassian Bitbucket (hot technology), GitLab (hot technology)
- Configuration management softwareIBM Terraform (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology), Chef (hot technology), Puppet (hot technology), Automated installation software, Deployment software, IBM Rational ClearCase
- File versioning softwareGit (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology), Apache Subversion SVN (hot technology), Version control software
- Content workflow softwareAtlassian JIRA (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology), Emerald Software Group Emerald Green Office
- Object oriented data base management softwarePostgreSQL (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology), Hibernate ORM (hot technology)
O*NET marks individual examples only. “Hot technology” means the tool is frequently named across job postings generally; “in demand for this occupation” means O*NET recorded it as required by employers for this occupation. Unmarked examples are still commonly used.
Typical tasks
- Analyze user needs and software requirements to determine feasibility of design within time and cost constraints.
- 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.
- Determine system performance standards.
- Consult with customers or other departments on project status, proposals, or technical issues, such as software system design or maintenance.
Also advertised as: Application Developer, Application Integration Engineer, Developer, DevOps Engineer (Development Operations Engineer), Infrastructure Engineer, Software Architect, Software Developer, Software Development Engineer.
Check your resume against a real job posting
This page describes the occupation in general. A free scan compares your own resume with the specific job description you are applying to, requirement by requirement, and shows where your real experience is already strong and where it is simply not documented yet. Only experience you actually have should ever be added.
Scan my resume freeSource: O*NET Database version 31.0 by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. Used under CC BY 4.0. OptimizeResume has modified the data for display only: selected the most important rated skills, grouped software examples by category while keeping each example’s official flags, and shortened the task list.
Guides for applying to this work
Sources and how to read this page
Source: OEWS May 2025, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (imported 9/17/2026) official file
Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-2035, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (imported 9/17/2026) official file
O*NET 31.0 Database version 31.0 by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0 and modified for display on this page. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
How each number should be read
- Pay percentiles describe the spread of pay across everyone in the occupation, not experience levels.
- Employment counts are jobs, not people hired during the year.
- Projected annual openings are a decade average from the official projection, not current vacancies.
- O*NET skill ratings describe the work, not employer hiring demand.
- Values BLS did not publish, suppressed, or top-coded are shown as such and never treated as zero.