2025 Average Software Engineer Salary by Country: Best Countries for Hiring Developers

The IT market is booming from year to year as the global digital transformation is in full swing. With so many businesses requiring all sorts of software development and engineering services, one should keep a finger on the pulse of the IT job market heartbeat.

This article will walk you through the average software engineer salary data for 2025, with a focus on the regional, experience-related, and other factors that determine the cost of such services. Here is a comprehensive insight into IT salaries worldwide to help you budget for this service in 2025 and beyond.

What Was the Average Software Engineer Salary in 2024?

As a company with 15+ years of experience in staff hiring services, we’ve compiled the data from various reputable sources, including Payscale, Glassdoor, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the Economic Research Institute tools in the process of global compensation data research. As a result of such in-depth inquiry, we’ve come up with a comprehensive picture of how much it costs to hire a software development specialist in 2025.

A general outlook on the 2024 stats on the salary of a software engineer gives us the following information:

• The highest-paying country in 2024 was the USA, with the average salary exceeding $120,000 per annum.
• In Europe, the highest-paying country was Switzerland, with annual pay rates standing at $115,000.
• The pay leaders in Eastern Europe were Poland, Romania, and Ukraine, with average annual salaries ranging from $48,000 to $54,500 per year.
• Python, Ruby, and Java were the highest-paid technologies globally.
• DevOps engineering salaries witnessed a rapid rise in 2024, exceeding $200,000 per year for senior-level engineering jobs.

Next, we’ll take a closer look at the factors affecting salary estimates and will present a breakdown by these factors to give a bigger picture of the global pay variability in the IT sector.

Factors Influencing the Average Software Engineer Salary

It’s broadly recognized that the computer software engineer salary is a compound figure shaped by many factors. Some of them include the developer’s location, experience level, tech stack they possess, and the type of employment (e.g., freelance work or full-time employment with a development agency).

• Experience level: junior (0-2 years), mid-level (2-5 years), and senior (5+ years).
• Location of residence: Northern America, Europe (Eastern and Western), Asia, Latin America.
• Tech stack: Android/iOS development, mobile/web development, DevOps, web engineering, blockchain, etc.
• Technologies: C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, Python, Go, .NET, PHP, Node.js, etc.
• Type of employment: full-time/part-time freelancer, independent contractor, full-time employee of a software development agency.

Breakdown of IT Salaries by Country

As we’ve seen in the previous section, the salary for software developers is strongly determined by the country of the specialist’s residence and official employment, among other factors. So, which is the highest paying state, and which regions are topping the list of the highest software engineering rates? Here is a brief outlook on the regional variability of IT salaries.

Top Countries for Software Engineer Salaries

As regional differences are pronounced when it comes to calculating the software engineer’s monthly salary, some countries are strongly associated with higher salary rates. The list of the top-paying countries includes (in line with the aggregate data for 2024):

• The USA – $120,000+ per year.
• Switzerland – $115,000+ per year.
• Australia – $98,000+ per year.
• Denmark – $84,000+ per year.
• Canada – $80,000+ per year.

Europe vs. US: Salary of a Software Engineer Comparison

The USA maintains confident leadership in terms of the highest paid software engineer jobs and the most expensive living conditions. According to Qubit Labs experts, the average software developer salary in the USA was around $120,000 in 2024, equal to $10,000 per month in 2024.

When comparing Europe with the USA, one should note the heterogeneity of the software engineer starting salary among European countries. Unlike the US, Europe is not a homogeneous entity, with notable regional and interstate differences in IT engineering salary per month. Let’s compare the development rates to see the difference.

Western Europe

Countries in Western Europe typically offer higher software engineering salaries compared to other European states. The top-paying countries are:

• Switzerland – $115,000+ per year.
• Denmark – $84,000+ per year.
• Germany – $64,000+ per year.
• Norway – $64,000 per year.
• Sweden – $56,000+ per year.
• Austria – $52,000+ per year.
• Ireland – $48,000+ per year.
• Finland – $47,000+ per year.
• UK – $45,000+ per year.

Other Western European states typically offer annual salaries below $40,000 per year. For example, a developer in Spain may count on a bit more than $36,000 per year, while Portuguese programmers earn $29,000+ on average.

Eastern Europe

Software developer salaries in Eastern Europe are lower compared to the western part of the continent, though the quality of development services is globally recognized as higher than average. The wage breakdown in this region is as follows:

• The Czech Republic – $53,000+ per year.
• Poland – $53,000+ per year.
• Romania – $50,000+ per year.
• Hungary – $49,000+ per year.
• Ukraine – $48,000+ per year.

Asian Markets in Terms of Salary for Software Developers

Though Asian countries are globally known for their rapidly developing tech ecosystems, and the demand for IT services is steadily growing in the region, software development salaries are not the highest in the world. Here are a couple of stats to illustrate the range of pay a software engineer can count on in Asia.

• Singapore – $51,000+ per year.
• Qatar – $50,000+ per year.
• Kuwait – $49,000 per year.
• Taiwan – $48,000+ per year.
• Japan – $36,000+ per year.

Computer Software Engineer Salary by Experience Level

The level of software programmer’s experience determines their tech stack and ability to tackle advanced tasks on the project. Therefore, the pay rate in the IT sector is typically tiered by the developer’s experience and the number of years in the industry (these are not the same things, as even a person with 10+ years of full-time work in IT may still be a mid-level programmer unable to handle tasks on a senior level).

Junior Developer Salary Ranges

According to Glassdoor data, the average total pay range of a junior software developer was from $85,000 to $135,000 per year. The median pay stands at $107,000 per year. Statistics from Salary.com suggest different figures, with the lowest 25% of salaries estimated at $65,000-$71,000, the median pay set at $78,000, and the highest 10% of this category earning $92,000+ per year.

Middle Developer Salary Ranges

ZipRecruiter statistics say that the mid-level software developer’s salary was $111,000 per year on average. Glassdoor experts calculated the mid-level software engineer’s salary in the USA at the range of $113,000 to $148,000.

The salary of mid-level software developers also depends on the technology they specialize in. Thus, for instance, according to the CyberCraft Inc. analysis, developers of this level can earn from $80,000 to $100,000 for Ruby and C++ development services, while the pay for .NET development ranges from $70,000 to $90,000.

Senior Software Developer Salary Ranges

So, what about the TOP software engineer salary? Here are the financials for software developers of an advanced, or senior, level of expertise.

Based on SpaceCrew data, senior-level software engineers earned $152,000 on average globally. The broader annual evaluation reveals the average pay of $127,000 per year for a specialist of this level, according to Statista.

What Were the Best Countries for Software Engineers in 2024?

As the demand for software engineering services is growing, IT specialists of all kinds naturally want to choose the best-paying locations for permanent residence. However, upon closer review, it comes out that the pay rate is not the only factor that determines how much disposable income the expert will finally have. Here is an overview of factors determining the choice of location for employment and residence, along with the pay rate considerations.

Hiring Opportunities in the Highest Paying Countries and Regions

Just think of these stats: there used to be only 3.2 million software developers in 2020. In 2024, their number reached 28.7 million, while global demand for software development is far from satisfied. That’s why demand may be regarded as the driving force for software engineering pay rates, which you should keep in mind when planning your recruitment strategy.

Especially tough is the process of finding qualified tech talent in the highest-paying countries, such as:

• The USA – home to Silicon Valley and the world’s top tech giants, the US is a great location for seeking a career opportunity in IT. Even beginner-level developers can count on salaries of $75,000 per year and more.
• India is a major regional IT outsourcing hub. This is not surprising because businesses can hire experienced developers here for $13,000- $30,000+ per year. That’s why India experiences a shortage of IT labor.
• Canada is a magnet for IT specialists because it offers the best of the two worlds – competitive pay rates and a lower cost of living compared to the neighboring USA. That’s why businesses in Canada should be ready to pay from $44,000 to $55,000 even to junior-level developers, while experienced programmers can count on $65,000 – $95,000 per year.

Future Outlook into the Computer Engineer Wage: 2025 and Beyond

At first glance, one may suggest a continually rising pressure for pay rate increases in the global IT sector. Salaries for software engineering jobs are well above $100,000 per year in many developed countries, causing increasing financial pressure on the employers. The most demanded software development services include:

• Video game design.
• iOS and Android app development.
• Cloud engineering.
• Blockchain development.
• AI engineering.
• AWS cloud engineering.

However, the world witnesses hundreds of thousands of IT course graduates every year, which causes saturation and intensifying competition in the IT labor market. The IT sector is dominated by employers today, with few vacancies and the rising number of contenders. With the massive layoffs of the past couple of years and many more coming in the tech industry in 2025, the IT hiring landscape is expected to change tremendously. According to Interview Kickstart experts, the following salary trends may be expected in this area in the near future:

• The IT labor market is evolving with greater saturation with software products and IT professionals.
• The approaching oversupply of IT talent may cause a massive reduction in the global IT service pay rates.
• Software development becomes more commoditized, thus driving salaries for expert services down.

Thus, the IT market is rapidly evolving together with the tech landscape, and the pay rates change in line with the present-day market needs and realities.