1Pay
$135,980
Very high national median pay
2025 national median. Top 10% for pay among careers on ChooseField.
Technology and Mathematics · Career brief
Software Developer
Is it a good career to pursue?
The 30-second read
Software Developer at a glance
Six signals to look at before you spend time on the full guide.
2Demand
10.2%
Strong projected growth
Projected employment growth for 2025–2035. Top 10% for growth among careers on ChooseField.
3Openings
95,300
Exceptional hiring volume
Average openings per year in 2025–2035, including replacement hiring. Top 10% for openings among careers on ChooseField.
4Route in
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is typically expected
Bachelor's degree. Prior related work is not typically required.
5The work
Analytical
Problem-solving and analysis dominate the profile
Analyze user needs and software requirements to determine feasibility of design within time and cost constraints.
6The catch
Know this first
What could make this a poor fit
Unknown: review standing, lifting, repetitive movement, and posture with a practitioner. No overall physical-demand rating is assigned.
ChooseField take
The strongest national signals are pay, growth, and opening volume; each ranks in the top quarter of ChooseField careers. It makes the most sense if analytical work appeals to you and you are comfortable with a bachelor's-degree path. Main tradeoff: Unknown: review standing, lifting, repetitive movement, and posture with a practitioner. No overall physical-demand rating is assigned.
National labor-market measures: BLS 2025 wages and 2025–2035 projections. Work-profile signals: O*NET. See sources and caveats.
Compare Software Developer with another field
Explore rankings in Technology and Mathematics
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Want the evidence behind the snapshot?
Market and path
Pay, outlook, and the route in
National median pay (2025)
$135,980
A midpoint for workers nationwide, not a starting salary.
2025–2035 outlook
10.2%employment growth95,300openings per year
Openings include replacement hiring, not only newly created jobs.
Typical entry route
Bachelor's degree
BLS reports the usual education, related experience, and on-the-job training, not a guaranteed minimum for every employer.
2025 employment
1,717,800
Estimated workers in this occupation across the United States.
Source: BLS 2025 wages and 2025–2035 occupational projections ↗ · Software developers (15-1252).
Actual responsibilities
What you would be trusted to own
Selected O*NET task statements, not a list of traits that applies to almost every career.
- Analyze user needs and software requirements to determine feasibility of design within time and cost constraints.
- Confer with systems analysts, engineers, programmers and others to design systems and to obtain information on project limitations and capabilities, performance requirements and interfaces.
- Modify existing software to correct errors, adapt it to new hardware, or upgrade interfaces and improve performance.
- Prepare reports or correspondence concerning project specifications, activities, or status.
Work profile
What the work emphasizes
O*NET importance scores. Bars are relative to the highest score shown within this chart.
- Working with Computers4.6
- Processing Information4.4
- Making Decisions and Solving Problems4.3
- Thinking Creatively4.3
- Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates4.2
Interest profile
Career interests
O*NET interest scores describe work someone may enjoy, not personality requirements. Bars are relative to the highest score shown within this chart.
Relative mix of the interest scores below, not percentages of your workday.
- Investigative6.1
- Conventional5.6
- Realistic3.6
- Artistic2.4
- Enterprising1.9
- Social1.8
Preparation
What the training must make you competent at
Subject matter
Computers and Electronics
Mathematics
Engineering and Technology
Design
Software and tools named in job postings
Git
Oracle Java
Go
Apache Kafka
GitHub
Spring Framework
Before choosing the major or training
Run a cheaper test first
- Build one small working project from a blank file, then diagnose and fix at least one failure without copying a finished answer.
- Ask an early-career worker which beginner task consumes the most time, what makes new hires quit, and what school or training failed to simulate.
Field-specific evidence
What changes the picture
The warning sign is early-career employment
-19%
Stanford found workers ages 22–25 in highly AI-exposed occupations below the employment trajectory of less-exposed peers, with software development among the clearest examples.
Stanford Digital Economy Lab · 2026 analysis ↗AI is already normal in development
84%
Respondents using or planning to use AI tools in their development process.
Stack Overflow Developer Survey · 2025 ↗Developers do not blindly trust AI
46% distrust vs 33% trust
More developers distrust AI-tool accuracy than trust it.
Stack Overflow Developer Survey · 2025 ↗New-grad pay is still strong
$81,535
Projected average starting salary for Class of 2026 computer-science bachelor's graduates.
NACE · Class of 2026 ↗The fuller career guide
How the evidence fits together
The tradeoff that matters most
A growing occupation can still be difficult to enter. Treat access to a first role as a separate problem: look for programs with real project feedback, work experience, and a credible route to an initial employer. Compare their outcomes with the cost and time you would spend.
Common questions
Questions people ask about this career
Is software development a good career?
Consider it if you enjoy turning an unclear need into working software and then debugging, testing, and maintaining it. Before paying for training, finish a small project for another person and explain your choices. Compare that experience with local entry-level hiring requirements.
Is software development oversaturated?
There is no single verdict across locations and experience levels. Stanford's 2026 analysis found weaker hiring of young workers in AI-exposed occupations, but describes the findings as observational indicators, not proof that AI caused the gap. Compare junior openings, required experience, internship access, and application outcomes in your intended market. National growth alone cannot answer that question.
Will AI replace software engineers?
The studies linked here do not show that software engineering will disappear. Stack Overflow's 2025 survey found widespread AI-tool use alongside substantial distrust of its accuracy. Using tools and checking their output are different skills. For a beginner, the practical question is whether you can explain, test, debug, and maintain a system with those tools; the survey cannot predict how many developers an employer will hire.
Software engineering salary
The national median annual wage in May 2025 was $135,980. This is a benchmark rather than an expected starting salary; actual compensation varies by experience, location, employer, specialty, credentials, and hours.
Adjacent options
Compare before committing
The useful question is not whether one field wins overall, but what changes when you choose a nearby path. Explore the full career guides for Cybersecurity Analyst, Data Scientist, Computer Systems Analyst, Operations Research Analysts.
Cybersecurity Analyst
- Median pay
- $129,180
- Growth
- 21%
Bachelor's degree + related experience
Compare side by side →Data Scientist
- Median pay
- $120,230
- Growth
- 34.6%
Bachelor's degree
Compare side by side →Computer Systems Analyst
- Median pay
- $105,850
- Growth
- 7.9%
Bachelor's degree
Compare side by side →Operations Research Analysts
- Median pay
- $88,940
- Growth
- 11.9%
Bachelor's degree
Compare side by side →Sources
- BLS 2025 wages and 2025–2035 occupational projections and worker characteristics: pay, employment, openings, education, experience, and training for occupation 15-1252.
- O*NET 15-1252.00 occupation summary: tasks, knowledge, work context, and technologies.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: 2025–35.
- Stanford Digital Economy Lab: 2026 analysis.
- Stack Overflow Developer Survey: 2025.
- Stack Overflow Developer Survey: 2025.
- NACE: Class of 2026.