Software Developers and Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers

SOC 15-1256 • View wages by state

The median annual wage for Software Developers and Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers is $100,938, based on BLS OEWS 2023 data. The mean annual wage is $116,649, and an estimated 151,098 workers are employed in this occupation nationally. Between 2020 and 2023, pay rose -8.4% while consumer prices rose 17.7% — a real change of -22.2% (pay did not keep up with inflation).

Wage Trend & Inflation Adjustment

How the national median wage for Software Developers and Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers has moved across BLS OEWS release years, and what each year's wage is worth in 2023 dollars after adjusting for CPI inflation. "Real" change strips out inflation — the truest measure of whether pay is actually rising.

National median wage trend for Software Developers and Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers, nominal and inflation-adjusted, BLS OEWS.
Year Median (nominal) In 2023 $ (real) Employment
2023 $100,938 $100,938 151,098
2020 $110,140 $129,669 1,476,800

Nominal change

-8.4%

Inflation (CPI)

+17.7%

Real change

-22.2%

Wage Distribution (National, 2023)

10th, 25th, 50th (median), 75th, and 90th percentile annual wages from BLS OEWS — the full spread, not just an average.

10th Pct

$55,515

25th Pct

$75,703

Median

$100,938

75th Pct

$131,219

90th Pct

$166,547

H-1B Employer Filings

Employer-certified wages from DOL H-1B LCA filings — competitive market benchmark, not approved visas.

The average H-1B median wage for this occupation is $146,751 — 45.4% above the OEWS national median of $100,938. H-1B sponsors are certifying pay above the prevailing market rate.
H-1B employer filings for Software Developers and Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers, DOL LCA data.
Employer State Filings Median Wage
Apple Inc CA 1,797 $107,535
Ernst and Young LLP NY 1,684 $149,072
Wipro Limited NJ 1,485 $167,137
Cognizant Technology Solutions NJ 1,405 $145,623
Meta Platforms Inc CA 1,259 $160,400
Tata Consultancy Services NJ 1,218 $168,013
Infosys BPO Limited NY 1,157 $93,239
Deloitte Consulting LLP NY 1,043 $117,267
IBM Corporation NY 835 $172,375
KPMG LLP NY 765 $142,993
Salesforce Inc CA 468 $101,178
Microsoft Corporation WA 445 $173,913
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP NY 172 $197,467
Google LLC CA 78 $125,428
Amazon WA 59 $179,630

Source: DOL Office of Foreign Labor Certification, H-1B LCA data.

Related Occupations in Computer & Mathematical

Other occupations in the same SOC major group, ranked by national median wage.

Software Developers $166,616 Data Scientists $147,477 Computer and Information Research Scientists $145,080 Computer Systems Analysts $144,090 Database Architects $134,700 Computer Network Architects $129,840 Computer Occupations, All Other $126,353 Information Security Analysts $120,360
All Computer & Mathematical occupations →
Wages by State Compare with another occupation All H-1B Employers