Real salary data
What Programmers actually earn in 2026.
The median for Programmer is $90,314 across 26089 real salary records (H-1B visa filings and tech job postings), updated Aug 10, 2026.
01 / By source
Real salary bands, by source.
Bands come from 26089 real records. Each source has a different bias, disclosed below.
Density curve fitted to the observed quartiles (log-normal). $79,518–$106,662 contains the middle 50% of records in the best-represented source; the shape between them is an approximation.
| Source | Records | 25th pct | Median | 75th pct |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| H-1B visa filings | 26,089 | $79,518 | $90,314 | $106,662 |
- H-1B visa filings (DOL) — over-represents visa-eligible roles (typically high-skill, high-wage)
Salary data updated Aug 10, 2026. Bands are percentiles, not averages; n is the number of underlying records.
02 / By city
What Programmers earn, by city.
Real records; cities with at least 10 observations.
| City | Records | Range (p25–p75) | Median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Irving, TX | 1,090 | $77,000 – $90,431 | $85,530 |
| Plano, TX | 860 | $77,418 – $101,048 | $85,530 |
| Austin, TX | 717 | $78,700 – $99,546 | $83,866 |
| Atlanta, GA | 555 | $81,500 – $100,000 | $90,210 |
| Charlotte, NC | 542 | $89,814 – $110,531 | $93,642 |
| Sunnyvale, CA | 534 | $102,178 – $126,710 | $123,781 |
| Houston, TX | 502 | $72,592 – $95,299 | $79,102 |
| Alpharetta, GA | 497 | $81,411 – $95,889 | $90,210 |
| New York, NY | 463 | $97,000 – $120,849 | $106,662 |
| Chicago, IL | 445 | $76,835 – $104,000 | $89,600 |
| Dallas, TX | 431 | $77,418 – $85,530 | $85,530 |
| San Jose, CA | 423 | $123,781 – $129,400 | $126,693 |
03 / By state
What Programmers earn, by state.
| State | Records | Range (p25–p75) | Median |
|---|---|---|---|
| TX | 6,476 | $76,750 – $95,000 | $85,530 |
| CA | 3,074 | $97,636 – $126,693 | $117,622 |
| NJ | 2,440 | $83,283 – $107,000 | $98,000 |
| IL | 1,528 | $76,835 – $96,242 | $80,000 |
| GA | 1,473 | $81,411 – $97,718 | $90,210 |
| NC | 1,398 | $87,762 – $107,307 | $91,354 |
| VA | 1,175 | $90,269 – $101,358 | $94,370 |
| OH | 840 | $70,000 – $86,694 | $75,650 |
| FL | 766 | $76,773 – $101,338 | $81,000 |
| NY | 753 | $81,370 – $110,304 | $100,880 |
| PA | 728 | $76,544 – $100,000 | $83,283 |
| MI | 485 | $78,021 – $87,791 | $78,582 |
04 / Context
How Programmers pay compares with similar roles.
| Profession | Risk | Median | Outlook |
|---|---|---|---|
| Architectural and Engineering Manager | Medium | $175,000 | +3.8% (2024–34) |
| Computer and Information Research Scientist | High | $179,000 | +19.7% (2024–34) |
| Computer Network Architect | Critical | $134,000 | +11.9% (2024–34) |
| Computer Systems Analyst | Critical | $104,416 | +8.7% (2024–34) |
| Data Analyst | High | $120,000 | +33.5% (2024–34) |
05 / Next step
How to move up the pay band.
The skills below appear most often in higher-paid roles:
- 01Software architecture & system design
- 02Code review & AI pair-programming
- 03Debugging complex systems
- udemyThe Python Programmer 2026Advanced
- udemyThe Self-Taught ProgrammerAdvanced
- udemyEquity Research & Equity Analyst ProgramAdvanced
- udemyBusiness Finance Analyst Program (BFAP)Advanced
- udemyFrom A Non Programmer To Full Stack .NET DeveloperAdvanced
- udemyBecome a Professional ProgrammerAdvanced
- udemySAS SQL for the SAS Programmer/AnalystAdvanced
- udemyThe Data Analyst Course: Complete Data Analyst BootcampBeginner
06 / FAQ
Salary questions, answered.
01Why are the bands different from the BLS median?
The BLS median covers all Programmer in the US. These bands come from real records with known biases — H-1B filings skew to visa-eligible (high-skill) roles and tech postings skew to tech employers — so they sit above the national median. We disclose the source of every band.
02How often is this data updated?
The dataset refreshes weekly from live job postings and quarterly from new H-1B disclosures.