Software Engineer Jobs

What do software engineer jobs pay?

The median posted pay is $132,300 a year for salaried roles. The middle half of active annual postings start between $101,000 a year and $169,500 a year, though range maximums can stretch much higher, with a median top range of $214,700 a year.

For roles with hourly pay, the median posted rate is $50.00 an hour. The middle range of starting hourly rates runs from $25.48 an hour up to $65.00 an hour, with a median upper limit of $65.00 an hour.

Olive first saw 19,261 new software engineer postings in the last 30 days, against 14,433 in the 30 days before. Olive's intake of postings across every job shifted in the week of October 19, 2026, so the two counts are not like for like, and this page doesn't read a trend from them.

Who is hiring software engineers?

Major tech companies, consulting agencies, and enterprise corporations have the largest share of open listings. Oracle leads the field with 3,349 active listings, followed by Deloitte with 1,718 postings.

Other major employers seeking talent include Meta with 1,527 listings, Amazon with 1,392 listings, and EY with 844 open postings.

How to get hired for software engineer jobs

Among job postings that specify an educational requirement, 97% ask for a bachelor's degree or higher. Employers also frequently seek experienced professionals; the median minimum experience requested in postings is 5 years. Just 4% of the active postings are classified as entry level or open to new graduates, meaning preparation is key.

Hiring teams frequently list specific programming languages and architectural concepts in their job descriptions. To stand out, ensure you can demonstrate practical experience in the top skills appearing on job postings today:

• Highlight your proficiency with Python, which is requested in 29% of listings.
• Showcase your command of Java, required in 21% of postings.
• Be ready to program in c++, found in 17% of opportunities.
• Verify that your resume notes exposure to distributed systems, which appears in 12% of postings.
• Detail your experience with ci cd, listed in 11% of descriptions.
• Understand client-side scripting or web applications using JavaScript, requested by 10% of employers.

Software engineer interview questions

During your technical and behavioral interviews, managers will evaluate how you manage codebase complexity, work with team members, and resolve production failures. Be prepared to address real scenarios such as these:

• How do you trace and resolve a sudden latency spike in a production environment when multiple microservices depend on each other?
• Tell me about a time you had a strong disagreement with a peer over system architecture. How did you resolve it and move the project forward?
• A pipeline deployment fails right before a major release. Walk me through your troubleshooting process to isolate the root cause.
• How do you design a data ingestion pipeline to handle millions of incoming payloads per second without dropping messages or exceeding memory limits?
• Describe a scenario where you had to refactor a legacy codebase. How did you ensure you did not introduce regressions while keeping the platform stable?

Where are software engineer jobs located?

Tech hubs on the coasts remain the dominant markets. California leads with 8,556 open postings, followed by New York with 2,838 postings. Other top states are Texas with 2,313 postings, Washington with 2,069 postings, and Virginia with 1,970 active listings.

Looking at specific metropolitan regions, San Francisco, CA has the highest concentration of open roles at 2,485 postings. Other leading cities are New York, NY with 1,697 postings, Seattle, WA with 1,018 postings, Austin, TX with 957 postings, and Sunnyvale, CA with 634 listings.

If you are not located in one of these areas, you can still find flexible arrangements. Remote roles make up 6% of all active openings, which represents 2,285 listings. Additionally, hybrid schedules account for 19% of postings, representing 7,322 active openings.

Questions people ask

What do software engineer jobs pay?

For salaried software engineer jobs, the median posted annual pay is $132,300 a year, with the middle half of postings starting between $101,000 a year and $169,500 a year. For hourly software engineer jobs, the median posted starting rate is $50.00 an hour.

Who hires software engineers?

Enterprise technology platforms and consulting agencies are the primary employers. The companies with the highest number of active postings are Oracle, Deloitte, and Meta.

Are there remote opportunities for software engineer jobs?

Yes. Active software engineer jobs offer a combined remote or hybrid share of 25%. There are currently 2,285 fully remote postings and 7,322 hybrid listings.

Can I find entry level software engineer jobs?

Entry-level roles can be highly competitive, as just 4% of open software engineer jobs are marked entry level. Most postings require previous experience, with a median minimum requirement of 5 years.