Software Engineer Salary by City 2026: Complete Guide

Software engineer salaries vary by 2–3x depending on where you work — and that gap hasn’t closed. This guide aggregates real compensation data from Levels.fyi, Glassdoor, and LinkedIn Salary for 2025, with cost-of-living adjustments so you can make accurate comparisons.

How to Read This Data

All figures represent total compensation (TC) at the mid-level (L4–L5 equivalent) unless noted. TC = base salary + annual bonus + equity (annualized). Base-only numbers are roughly 60–70% of these figures at top companies.

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Tier 1: Highest-Paying Tech Markets

San Francisco Bay Area

Level	Median TC	Top 25% TC
L3 (Junior)	$195,000	$245,000
L4 (Mid)	$285,000	$370,000
L5 (Senior)	$410,000	$550,000
Staff+	$520,000	$750,000+

FAANG/top-tier companies push these figures significantly higher. A mid-level Google SWE (L4) can expect $380,000–$480,000 TC, while L5 roles at FAANG regularly exceed $600,000.

Cost-of-living note: San Francisco rent averages $3,200/month for a 1BR. After taxes and living expenses, net purchasing power drops below what you’d get on $180,000 in Austin.

Seattle

Seattle has surpassed New York as the #2 compensation market, driven by Amazon, Microsoft, and a dense ecosystem of tech companies with aggressive equity packages.

Level	Median TC	Top 25% TC
L3 (Junior)	$175,000	$215,000
L4 (Mid)	$255,000	$330,000
L5 (Senior)	$360,000	$480,000

Washington state has no income tax, making Seattle’s effective compensation higher than its nominal figures suggest. A $300,000 TC in Seattle is worth more than $300,000 in California after state tax differences.

New York City

NYC sits just below Seattle on pure TC but offers strong compensation across a broader range of industries — finance, media, and advertising all pay competitive engineering salaries.

Level	Median TC	Top 25% TC
L3 (Junior)	$165,000	$205,000
L4 (Mid)	$240,000	$305,000
L5 (Senior)	$330,000	$440,000

Finance (Goldman Sachs, Two Sigma, Citadel) often pays 20–40% above standard tech rates, especially for quantitative or infrastructure roles.

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Tier 2: Strong Regional Markets

Austin, Texas

Austin’s tech scene matured rapidly post-2020 with relocations from Apple, Tesla, Oracle, and dozens of startups. Compensation is lower than Tier 1 in absolute terms, but Texas has no income tax and lower cost of living.

Level	Median TC
L3 (Junior)	$130,000
L4 (Mid)	$185,000
L5 (Senior)	$255,000

Purchasing power adjusted, Austin L4 ($185K TC, no state tax) is often comparable to San Francisco L4 ($285K TC, 9.3% state tax + SF cost of living).

Denver / Boulder

Strong mid-market with growing startup density. Good quality of life ratio.

Level	Median TC
L3 (Junior)	$120,000
L4 (Mid)	$170,000
L5 (Senior)	$235,000

Boston

Strong across biotech, fintech, and academic spinouts. Lower FAANG presence keeps median TC below SF/Seattle.

Level	Median TC
L3 (Junior)	$140,000
L4 (Mid)	$200,000
L5 (Senior)	$275,000

Chicago

Chicago has a growing fintech and enterprise tech presence. Compensation is competitive given lower cost of living.

Level	Median TC
L3 (Junior)	$115,000
L4 (Mid)	$160,000
L5 (Senior)	$220,000

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Tier 3: Remote-First and Emerging Markets

Remote (US-based)

The normalization of remote work created a new category: companies pay based on location tiers (some based on your city, others on a national band).

• Location-adjusted remote: Pays SF rates regardless of location (rare — Stripe, some startups)
• Band-based remote: National bands, often 80–90% of SF rates
• Cost-of-living adjusted: SF-level if you live in SF, Austin-level if you live in Austin

For fully-remote, expect median TC of $180,000–$220,000 at L4 level across most established tech companies.

Miami

Miami hasn’t emerged as a true tech hub despite the 2020 hype. Compensation remains 25–30% below SF.

Level	Median TC
L4 (Mid)	$155,000
L5 (Senior)	$215,000

Raleigh / Durham

Research Triangle has strong engineering talent pipelines but lower absolute compensation.

Level	Median TC
L4 (Mid)	$135,000
L5 (Senior)	$190,000

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Salary by Specialization (National Averages)

Compensation also varies significantly by tech stack and domain:

Specialization	L4 Median TC
ML / AI Engineering	$310,000
Backend (Distributed Systems)	$270,000
Security Engineering	$260,000
Mobile (iOS/Android)	$245,000
Frontend / React	$230,000
Full-Stack	$225,000
DevOps / Platform	$255,000
Data Engineering	$240,000

AI/ML engineers command a 30–40% premium over general software engineers at most companies as of 2025, driven by demand for LLM fine-tuning, inference optimization, and AI product development.

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Total Compensation Breakdown: What Actually Matters

Many engineers focus on base salary and miss the equity picture. At growth-stage companies, equity can represent 30–60% of total compensation.

Typical TC Split at Large Tech Company (L4)

• Base salary: ~$165,000 (55% of TC)
• Annual bonus: ~$25,000 (8% of TC)
• RSUs (annualized): ~$110,000 (37% of TC)
• Total: ~$300,000

Typical TC Split at Startup (L4)

• Base salary: ~$155,000 (80% of TC)
• Bonus: ~$10,000 (5% of TC)
• Options (annualized at preferred price): ~$30,000 (15% of TC)
• Total: ~$195,000

The startup equity is far more variable and often worth significantly less than its nominal value. Early-stage options with a 10-year expiry and aggressive vesting cliffs may be worth $0–$500K depending entirely on exit.

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How to Use This Data in Negotiations

Step 1: Benchmark accurately. Use Levels.fyi for FAANG and top tech, Glassdoor for broader market data. LinkedIn Salary is useful for less-known companies.

Step 2: Calculate your purchasing power. Use a cost-of-living calculator to compare offers in different cities. The difference between $280K in SF and $185K in Austin is smaller than it looks.

Step 3: Get to competing offers. The single biggest lever in salary negotiation is a competing offer. Without one, you’re negotiating against a number the company set before you arrived. With one, you’re negotiating between two parties competing for you.

Step 4: Negotiate total comp, not just base. Recruiters have more flexibility on signing bonus, equity grant size, and equity cliff timing than they do on base salary bands.

For detailed negotiation scripts and email templates, see our guide: How to Negotiate Your First Tech Offer.

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Salary Trends to Watch in 2025

AI premium holding strong. Despite tech layoffs in 2023–2024, AI/ML engineers have seen consistent wage growth. Demand continues to outpace supply.

Remote adjustment slowing. Companies have largely settled their remote pay policies. Expect less volatility here going forward.

Junior hiring caution. Entry-level hiring remains depressed compared to 2021 peaks. Many companies are promoting internally instead of hiring junior engineers, compressing TC growth at the bottom of the ladder.

Staff+ becoming standard. Staff engineer roles (previously rare) are now common at companies over 500 engineers. This creates more paths to $400K+ TC without going into management.

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Quick Reference: City Rankings by Purchasing Power (L4)

1. Seattle — High TC + no state tax = best purchasing power after COL
2. Austin — Lower TC but no state tax + low COL
3. San Francisco — Highest TC, lowest purchasing power after taxes and rent
4. New York — High TC, high COL, competitive purchasing power
5. Boston — Solid TC, manageable COL
6. Denver — Good balance, lower absolute TC
7. Chicago — Good value for Midwest cost of living
8. Remote (adjusted bands) — Highly variable, depends on company policy

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Get Your Offer Analysis Tools

Want to model total compensation across offers? The DevToolkit Starter Kit includes a salary comparison spreadsheet, offer evaluation framework, and negotiation email templates — everything you need to evaluate competing offers accurately.

For more career guidance, see our Developer Portfolio Checklist and Senior Developer Interview Checklist.