Top US Cities and Emerging Hubs for Software Developer Jobs

A new study by Flatworld’s software division examines the distribution of software developer jobs and their corresponding salaries across various states and cities in the United States. Understanding the geographic distribution of software developer jobs and salaries can provide insights into regional economic strengths and informed career decisions for professionals in the field.

Key Takeaways

California offers the highest average salary for software developers at $173,780.
Washington has the highest concentration of software developer jobs, with 25.49 jobs per 1000 jobs.
Boulder, CO, offers the second-highest salary at $182,650, indicating its emergence as a tech hub. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA, offers the highest salary ($199,800).

High Density of Software Developers in Washington State

TThe study looked at the density of Software Developer jobs per 1000 jobs. Interestingly, Washington leads with 25.5 jobs per 1000, followed by Virginia (21.8). Those two states have more than 2% of their workforce working as software developers. California comes third (17), followed closely by Massachusetts (16.5) and Colorado (16).

California does have the highest total employment (304,390) and the highest average salaries ($173,780). Washington comes second with $159,990, followed by Maryland ($150,740), New York ($150,020) and Massachusetts ($146,580). Despite being the state with the least software developer jobs (280), Alaska is state number six in terms of salary with $145,630.

Highest Salaries in the Silicon Valley

San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA, offers the highest salary ($199,800) among all metropolitan areas; it also has the Highest Number of Software Developer Jobs per 1000 Jobs, with 84.597 jobs per 1000. This is expected as this area is part of Silicon Valley, a global center for technology and innovation.

In terms of salary, California has four other metropolitan areas in the top 10 highest salaries, including San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA, coming third with $181,220. Boulder, CO comes second with $182,650 and Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA is fourth ($164,130), followed by two Californian metropolitan areas Santa Maria-Santa Barbara ($156,470) and San Diego-Carlsbad ($152,270).

The top four in terms of density are pretty similar, only with San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA and Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA, switching places. This time, only 2 Californian metropolitan areas are in the top 10, showing a large diversity of states in cities with a high density of software developers. Huntsville, AL comes fifth with 29 software developers for 1000 jobs, followed by Washington-Arlington-Alexandria (23.3) and Raleigh, NC (23). On average, metropolitan areas in the US have 5.7 software developer jobs per 1,000 jobs.

The analysis reveals that California offers the highest average salaries for software developers, while Washington has the highest job concentration. Emerging tech hubs like Boulder, CO, are also providing competitive salaries, indicating growth beyond traditional centers. These insights can guide career and business decisions in the evolving tech landscape.

Software developer job market by state (ranked by salary):

Methodology

Data was collected from the Bureau of Labor Statistics data from 2023; we focus on data about software developer employment statistics across states and cities. The analysis focused on two key metrics: the number of software developer jobs per 1000 jobs and the average annual salary for software developers.