How to hire in the United States
The United States employs about 1.69 million software developers, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics' May 2025 estimates — the largest pool in the world, and also the widest pay spread. The same title covers an $80,000 hire in one state and a $220,000 hire in Silicon Valley. This guide covers what the role actually pays, where the deep pools sit, and how work authorisation shapes your timeline.
What it pays
The biggest pay levers in this market are geography and level. National medians are honest but almost nobody is paid the national median — coastal tech hubs run 40 to 60 per cent above it, and a job ad that names neither a location nor a level will collect applicants from every point on that curve.
| Benchmark | US pay | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Software developer — US median | $135,980 a year | US Bureau of Labor Statistics OES, May 2025 estimates |
| Software developer — US mean | $148,100 a year | US Bureau of Labor Statistics OES, May 2025 estimates |
| Software engineer — average base salary | $135,312 a year, typical spread $80,079 – $228,640 | Indeed US salary data, updated 3 August 2026 |
| Software developer — California mean | $186,770 a year | US Bureau of Labor Statistics OES, May 2025 estimates |
| Software developer — San Jose metro mean (Silicon Valley) | $221,710 a year | US Bureau of Labor Statistics OES, May 2025 estimates |
| Employer payroll tax (FICA), on top of salary | 6.2% Social Security on the first $184,500 (2026), plus 1.45% Medicare with no cap | IRS Tax Topic 751, reviewed 20 January 2026 |
Figures checked August 2026. The BLS counts the occupation as 'software developers' and its May 2025 estimates are the most recent official numbers; Indeed's figure is base salary from live job-posting data and sits close to the BLS median. Read the spread as geography and level, not noise: the national median is about $136,000, but California averages $186,770 and the San Jose metro $221,710, and equity and bonuses at larger tech employers sit on top of every base figure here.
Where the talent sits
California employs 284,390 software developers at a mean of $186,770 a year, per BLS May 2025 estimates — by far the largest state pool. The San Jose metro, the heart of Silicon Valley, is the highest-paying market in the country at a mean of $221,710, with the San Francisco metro close behind at $193,430.
Washington state employs 107,030 software developers, and the Seattle metro pays a mean of $174,920 a year (BLS, May 2025). Amazon and Microsoft are both headquartered here, so the pool skews towards large-scale distributed systems experience — and towards people who are already well paid.
Texas employs 163,880 software developers (BLS, May 2025), the second-largest state pool, spread across Austin, Dallas and Houston. A decade of corporate relocations and no state income tax have made it the standard counterweight to coastal offers: employers pay less in salary and candidates keep more of it.
New York employs 113,510 software developers (BLS, May 2025), concentrated in New York City. Banks, hedge funds and fintechs compete directly with big-tech offices for the same engineers, which keeps the senior end of this pool expensive and quick to move.
Since 2020 a meaningful share of US software roles are hired remotely, which means every ad in this market competes nationally whether it says so or not. It also means pay-transparency rules follow the candidate: several states, including California, Colorado, New York and Washington, require a salary range in postings that people there can apply to.
Work authorization
Most software engineer hires in the United States need no sponsorship at all — citizens, permanent residents and EAD holders can start after routine Form I-9 verification. But this is also the occupation where sponsorship questions come up most, so know the main routes before the first interview.
US citizens, green card holders, and people holding an Employment Authorization Document — including recent graduates on OPT and its STEM extension — can start work as soon as you complete Form I-9 verification. Ask about work authorisation in the first call; for most of the market this section ends here.
The specialty-occupation visa runs on an annual cap of 65,000 places plus a 20,000 exemption for US advanced-degree holders, allocated by an electronic registration lottery each spring for a start the following October — and USCIS has already received enough petitions to reach both caps for fiscal year 2027. Initial stay is up to three years, extendable to six. A September 2025 proclamation attaching a $100,000 payment to certain new petitions was vacated by a federal court in June 2026 and remains under appeal, so check the current position before budgeting a sponsored hire. Source: USCIS H-1B Specialty Occupations page, last updated 28 July 2026.
Citizens of Canada or Mexico can work in the US in professions on the USMCA list, with an initial stay of up to three years and extensions available. Canadians can present their job offer and credentials directly at the border with no consular visa; Mexicans apply for a TN visa first. The profession list is fixed, so check how the role is titled against it before relying on this route. Source: USCIS TN USMCA Professionals page, last updated 4 June 2025.
For candidates with sustained national or international acclaim in the sciences or business — in practice, engineers with significant open-source work, publications, patents or founder track records. There is no annual cap and no lottery, which is why it has become the fallback for standout engineers who miss the H-1B draw. The evidentiary bar is genuinely high. Source: USCIS O-1 visa page, last updated 3 March 2023.
These pages were read in August 2026 and the rules are moving — the H-1B programme in particular is in active litigation. Check uscis.gov before relying on any of this, and take proper advice for a specific case — this is background, not legal advice.
How to run the search
Indeed's spread for the title runs from about $80,000 to about $228,000 a year, and that gap is mostly seniority and geography. Decide whether you are hiring mid-level or senior, and whether the salary is set for your city or for the national remote market, before you write anything down.
If the role is remote or you operate in California, Colorado, New York or Washington, a salary range in the posting is legally required, not optional. Treat it as an advantage: in this market an ad without a range reads as a low offer, and the engineers you want filter it out.
A computer science degree is common but not universal in this pool, and title inflation varies wildly between employers. Public code, systems the candidate can explain end to end, and evidence of production ownership beat a keyword match — the interview should test how they build, not what they list.
The engineers you want are shipping someone else's product and not reading job boards. Talent Summoner searches public professional profiles across the open market and ranks them against your brief, so you start from people who fit rather than people who applied.
US employment is at-will and the convention is two weeks' notice, so the gap between offer and start date is smaller than almost anywhere else — and so is your window before a counteroffer lands. The one fixed clock is sponsorship: a candidate needing a fresh H-1B waits for the next annual lottery and an October start, so surface that constraint in the first conversation.
FAQ
The BLS May 2025 estimates put the national median for software developers at $135,980 a year and the mean at $148,100, and Indeed's job-posting data showed an average base of $135,312 as of August 2026. Location moves those numbers a long way: California's mean is $186,770 and the San Jose metro's is $221,710. Set the number for the market you are actually hiring in.
The statutory floor is the employer's share of FICA: 6.2% Social Security on the first $184,500 of wages in 2026, plus 1.45% Medicare with no cap, per IRS Tax Topic 751. On top of that, US market practice adds employer-subsidised health insurance and usually a 401(k) match — and at tech employers, equity — none of which is statutory but all of which the market expects.
Yes, but plan around the calendar. The H-1B route runs on an annual spring lottery with a 65,000-place cap plus a 20,000 advanced-degree exemption, and USCIS has already reached both caps for fiscal year 2027 — so a candidate without existing status waits for the next cycle and an October start. Canadians and Mexicans in USMCA-listed professions can use the faster TN route, and exceptional candidates may qualify for the uncapped O-1A. Many candidates need nothing at all: green card and EAD holders can start after Form I-9 verification.
By BLS May 2025 employment estimates: California leads with 284,390 software developers, then Texas with 163,880, New York with 113,510 and Washington with 107,030. Pay follows the same map — the San Jose metro is the most expensive market in the country at a mean of $221,710 a year, while Texas trades lower salaries against no state income tax.
Once someone accepts, the standard notice period is two weeks — US employment is at-will, so start dates come fast. The slow parts are your own process and, for sponsored candidates, immigration: a fresh H-1B means waiting for the next annual lottery and an October start. For candidates already authorised to work, the employer who moves through interviews in days rather than weeks usually wins.
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