Role profile
Software developer
Also called: Software engineer · Backend developer · Frontend developer · Full-stack developer · Mobile developer · QA engineer
Software developers design, build and maintain applications and the systems behind them, from mobile apps and web services to embedded and enterprise software. The biggest employers are software publishers and IT consulting firms, but banks, retailers, manufacturers and government agencies all hire them.
- Median pay, 2025
- $135,980
- $82,460 to $214,670 (10th to 90th percentile)
- US jobs, 2025
- 1,717,800
- Software developers
- Outlook, 2025-35
- +10%
- Much faster than average
- Typical entry
- Bachelor's degree
- No prior experience required
What the work looks like
- Turn a vague request from a product manager or customer into a scoped plan, often by asking the questions nobody thought to ask.
- Write and change code in an existing codebase, which is usually far more reading than writing.
- Write tests, review teammates' pull requests and respond to review comments on your own.
- Debug production issues from logs, metrics and error reports, sometimes during an on-call shift.
- Use AI coding assistants for boilerplate and exploration, and check their output with the same care as a junior colleague's code.
- Join planning, standups and design discussions, and write short design docs for larger changes.
- Pay down technical debt: upgrade dependencies, remove dead code and fix the slow build.
How people get in
The BLS lists a bachelor's degree in computer science or a related field as typical, with internships as the standard way students get experience. A degree still opens the most doors, especially at larger employers that screen resumes automatically.
Self-taught and bootcamp routes do work, but they are harder in a competitive entry-level market. What closes the gap is proof: a couple of substantial projects with real users or real complexity, contributions to open-source code, and the ability to explain your design choices in an interview.
Many developers start in adjacent jobs, such as QA testing, IT support with scripting, or data analysis, and move over internally. Expect a technical interview process that tests coding, problem solving and, for mid-level roles, system design.
Skills employers ask for
- Git
- One main language in depth (Python, JavaScript/TypeScript, Java, C# or Go)
- SQL
- Automated testing
- HTTP and REST APIs
- Linux shell
- Debugging and reading logs
- Cloud basics (AWS, Azure or GCP)
- Docker
- CI/CD pipelines
- Code review
- Basic system design
Outlook to 2035
The BLS projects 10% growth from 2025 to 2035 for developers, QA analysts and testers combined, much faster than average, with about 106,100 openings a year. Within that, developers are projected at 10% and QA analysts and testers at 6%. The contrast with computer programmers, projected to decline, is the useful signal: jobs that combine design, judgement and ownership are growing while pure code-writing from specs is being automated.
The BLS groups software developers with software quality assurance analysts and testers (1,905,400 jobs combined, $134,040 median). QA analysts and testers alone earn a $104,300 median and are projected to grow 6%.
How the pay compares
Software developer highlighted against the other 13 roles we track.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, Software developers. Pay is 2025 median annual wage; outlook is projected employment change 2025-35.