Software developers: how women's and men's pay compare
Among full-time, year-round software developers in the United States, women had a median of $122,356 in 2024 and men had $142,098. Women's median was 86.1% of men's (margin of error ±1.2%). The $19,742 difference is larger than its margin of error (±$1,845), so it is statistically distinguishable from zero at the 90% level the Census Bureau uses. That is a narrower ratio than the 83.1% for all full-time, year-round workers ($55,678 vs $66,965, Census table B20017).
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024 1-year, tables B24122/B24123/B24125/B24126. Full-time, year-round civilian workers 16+, 2024 dollars. Retrieved 2026-10-09. ± values are 90% margins of error.
Where this occupation sits
About 389,221 women and 1,678,359 men worked full-time, year-round in this occupation, so women were 18.8% of the group (±0.5%). That makes it a majority-men occupation, ranked #38 of 40 in this set by women's share.
Among the 40 large occupations in this set, it ranks #22 for the smallest gap (women's median as a share of men's; #1 is closest to equal), #4 for women's median earnings, and #5 for the largest dollar difference.
Occupations with a similar share of women
| Occupation | Women | Men | Women/men | Women's share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand | $35,770 | $41,307 | 86.6% | 22% |
| First-line supervisors of production and operating workers | $52,076 | $71,486 | 72.8% | 23% |
| Police officers | $71,307 | $83,147 | 85.8% | 14% |
Occupations with a similar pay ratio
| Occupation | Women | Men | Women/men | Women's share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Postsecondary teachers | $81,358 | $94,259 | 86.3% | 48% |
| Police officers | $71,307 | $83,147 | 85.8% | 14% |
| Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing | $75,812 | $87,669 | 86.5% | 27% |
What this number does and doesn't tell you
- These are unadjusted medians for people who worked full-time, year-round. They do not control for hours beyond full-time, years of experience, seniority, employer, location, or the specific jobs inside the occupation group.
- A gap here is a description, not proof of discrimination, and the absence of a gap does not prove equal treatment. Estimates come from a sample survey, which is why every figure has a margin of error.
- The Census Bureau groups jobs into detailed occupations; "Software developers" is the Bureau's category and may combine jobs you think of as different.
- For a specific state, see the state pay-gap pages. To compare any two jobs, use the pay-gap lookup tool. For how we work with data, see our methodology.