Senior Software Engineer salary: $202K median
The median advertised Senior Software Engineer salary is $202K a year, and the middle half of postings offer $184K to $222K: counted from 2,179 open roles that publish a yearly US-dollar range: about $97 an hour or $16,792 a month. A tenth of the postings offer $245K or more. Advertised ranges, not verified pay.
Check an offer against these figuresAll senior software engineer jobs
$202Kmedian advertised salary
$184K – $222Kmiddle half of roles
$203Kaverage advertised salary
2,179roles counted
Senior Software Engineer salary by level
Lead roles advertise a median of $273K, 35% more than senior roles ($202K). The level comes from the job title; titles without a level word are counted separately.
| Level | Median salary | Middle half | Roles |
|---|---|---|---|
| Senior | $202K | $184K–$222K | 2,162 |
| Lead and above | $273K | $193K–$362K | 17 |
Senior Software Engineer salary by location
| Name | Median salary | Roles counted |
|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇸Pittsburgh, PA | $220K | 18 |
| 🇺🇸San Francisco Bay Area | $216K | 776 |
| 🇺🇸California | $212K | 1,005 |
| 🇺🇸New York, NY | $204K | 354 |
| 🇺🇸United States | $202K | 2,016 |
| 🇺🇸Seattle, WA | $200K | 154 |
| 🇺🇸Los Angeles, CA | $198K | 90 |
| 🇺🇸Washington, DC | $190K | 44 |
| 🇺🇸Chicago, IL | $189K | 27 |
| 🇨🇦Canada | $188K | 24 |
| 🇺🇸Boston, MA | $187K | 72 |
| 🇺🇸Austin, TX | $187K | 17 |
| 🇺🇸Texas | $186K | 30 |
| 🇪🇺Europe | $180K | 15 |
| 🇺🇸Denver, CO | $180K | 37 |
Skills that pay more for Senior Software Engineer roles
| Skill | Median with it | Above the median | Postings |
|---|---|---|---|
| C++ | $220K | +$18K | 472 |
| Rust | $215K | +$14K | 279 |
| Machine Learning | $210K | +$8K | 244 |
| Linux | $205K | +$4K | 260 |
| LLM | $205K | +$4K | 373 |
Top-paying companies
| Name | Median salary | Roles counted |
|---|---|---|
| Anthropic | $402K | 5 |
| Ivo Inc | $327K | 3 |
| Lambda | $312K | 9 |
| Decagon | $300K | 8 |
| Sentry | $295K | 5 |
| Gigaml | $275K | 3 |
| Roblox | $268K | 65 |
| Goteleport | $264K | 4 |
| Tapcart | $262K | 3 |
| Qumulo | $262K | 3 |
| CLEAR - Corporate | $262K | 5 |
| Eliseai | $260K | 4 |
| Pure Storage | $258K | 4 |
| Unify | $258K | 3 |
| Block | $256K | 8 |
| xAI | $255K | 15 |
| Mochi Health | $255K | 3 |
| Sphere | $250K | 3 |
| Govwell | $250K | 3 |
| Retell Ai | $250K | 5 |
| Zoox | $247K | 9 |
| Snowflake | $244K | 23 |
| Scale AI | $243K | 4 |
| Nuro | $242K | 25 |
| Together AI | $242K | 6 |
Highest-paying open Senior Software Engineer roles
All senior software engineer jobs- Senior Software Engineer, GTMOpenart · 🇺🇸San Carlos, California, USA$400K - $500KHybridSeniorReactNext.js
- Staff + Senior Software Engineer, Inference InfrastructureAnthropic · 🇺🇸San Francisco, CA | New York City, NY | Seattle, WA$320K - $485KLead and aboveRustPythonGCP
- Staff + Sr. Software Engineer, Cloud InferenceAnthropic · 🇺🇸San Francisco, CA | Seattle, WA$320K - $485KLead and aboveRustPythonGCP
- Senior Software Engineer, FullstackIvo Inc · 🇺🇸San Francisco, CA$249K - $405KSeniorLLMRAG
- Senior Software Engineer, BackendIvo Inc · 🇺🇸San Francisco, CA$249K - $405KSeniorLLMRAG
- Senior Software EngineerSardine · 🇧🇷Brazil$285K - $400KRemoteSeniorGoPythonTypeScript
- Senior Software Engineer, AI PlatformSentry · 🇺🇸San Francisco, California$155K - $400KHybridSeniorPythonTypeScriptLLM
- Senior Software Engineer, Billing PlatformSentry · 🇺🇸San Francisco, California$215K - $400KHybridSeniorReconciliations
- Senior Software Engineer, Agent PlatformDecagon · 🇺🇸San Francisco$200K - $400KSeniorAI agentsA/B testing
- Senior Software Engineer, Developer PlatformDecagon · 🇺🇸San Francisco$200K - $400KSeniorPythonTypeScriptCI/CD
- Senior Software EngineerRoboflow · 🇺🇸San Francisco$250K - $400KSeniorComputer VisionProcurement
- Senior Software Engineer - Fleet EngineeringLambda · 🇺🇸San Francisco Office (Fremont St)$230K - $395KHybridSeniorGoPythonMachine Learning
- Senior Software Engineer - Storage Control PlaneLambda · 🇺🇸San Francisco Office (Fremont St)$266K - $395KHybridSeniorGoPythonC++
- Senior Software EngineerMidpage · 🇺🇸New York City$319K - $381KSeniorPythonSQLPostgreSQL
- Senior Application Engineer [Remote-US]Quanata · remote$232K - $379KRemoteSeniorPythonTypeScriptJavaScript
- Senior Product EngineerParadigmai · 🇺🇸NYC$275K - $375KSeniorGoPostgreSQLLLM
- Staff / Senior Software Engineer, Platform TeamsSuno · 🇺🇸Boston$229K - $364KLead and aboveGCPLLMKubernetes
- Staff / Senior Software Engineer, Product TeamsSuno · 🇺🇸NYC$228K - $363KLead and abovePythonTypeScriptReact
- Senior Software Engineer (Hybrid, San Francisco)Apollo.io · 🇺🇸Hybrid, San Francisco$195K - $358KHybridSeniorPythonReactRuby
- Senior Software Engineer, Applied AITldr.tech · Remote$298K - $358KRemoteSeniorGCPLLMAWS
Questions about Senior Software Engineer pay
- What is the average Senior Software Engineer salary?
- $203K a year on average and $202K at the median, across 2,179 open Senior Software Engineer postings at companies that state pay (November 2026). The median is the better guide: a few very high offers pull the average up.
- What is the typical range?
- The middle half of the postings offer $184K to $222K a year. A quarter offer less and a quarter offer more.
- Which companies advertise the highest Senior Software Engineer pay?
- Anthropic ($402K), Ivo Inc ($327K), Lambda ($312K), by the median of their open postings that state pay (three postings or more).
- Is a senior software engineer a high-paying job?
- The median Senior Software Engineer posting advertises $202K a year, more than the median of all 55,899 job postings with pay on Jobs Every Hour ($174K). That is 16% above the middle of the market.
- How much can you earn as a senior software engineer?
- A tenth of the postings offer $245K a year or more; the highest open Senior Software Engineer role advertises up to $500K. Pay rises with level: see the table by level.
- What is the Senior Software Engineer salary per hour and per month?
- The median of $202K a year is about $97 an hour (2,080 working hours) and $16,792 a month before tax. The middle half of postings: $88 to $107 an hour.
- Which skills pay more for Senior Software Engineer roles?
- Postings that ask for C++ (+$18K, 472 postings), Rust (+$14K, 279 postings), Machine Learning (+$8K, 244 postings) advertise more than the $202K median of all Senior Software Engineer postings with pay.
- Where do these figures come from?
- From the pay ranges employers print in their own job postings, read from their careers pages every hour. The midpoint of each range is counted. These are advertised ranges for open roles, mostly in the United States and in US dollars, not what people are actually paid.
Writing about this? A sentence you can quote
The median advertised salary for Senior Software Engineer roles at companies is $202K a year, and the middle half of postings offer $184K to $222K. Counted from 2,179 open job postings that state pay, November 2026. Source: Jobs Every Hour, https://jobseveryhour.com/salaries/senior-software-engineer/
Free to use with the link.