2022 Software Engineer Salary Report: Median Pay, Top Companies & Cities Revealed

Levels.fyi recently released its 2022 programmer salary report, compiled from more than 150,000 salary submissions. The median total compensation—covering salary, stock, and bonuses—reflects the overall annual earnings of software engineers.

"Just as the market heated up early this year, by year‑end it entered a harsh cooling phase, with layoffs and hiring freezes becoming prominent in Q4 and increasing uncertainty for 2023. Nevertheless, compensation at the top companies and senior levels generally continued to rise compared to last year," the report notes.

The data, while focused on software engineers, indicates that the highest‑paying companies and locations often apply to a broad range of technical roles. Compensation varies based on interview performance, experience, competitive offers, and other factors, and the figures primarily represent the most lucrative tech firms and regions, which may not reflect the broader market.

For entry‑level engineers, quantitative finance firm Two Sigma leads with a median salary of $274,000, followed by payment platform Stripe at $266,000 and Databricks (the commercial arm of Apache Spark) at $221,000.

Among mid‑level positions, Databricks tops the list with a median of $443,000, followed by Cruise (GM’s autonomous driving subsidiary) at $361,000 and gaming platform Roblox at $354,000. ByteDance appears as the sole Chinese company on the list, earning $323,000, while a Staff Engineer at ByteDance earns a median $564,000.

Principal Engineers see the highest median salaries, with Facebook leading at $1,044,000, followed by Stripe at $900,000, Airbnb at $796,000, Apple at $752,000, Netflix at $725,000, Twitter at $700,000, and Snap Inc. at $690,000. These roles typically require over 15 years of experience and represent less than 3% of a company’s workforce.

Geographically, the United States’ top three regions for programmer earnings are San Francisco ($234,000), Seattle ($213,000), and New York ($187,000).

In Asia, the highest‑paying area is Tel Aviv, Israel ($159,000). Within China, Shanghai ($89,000), Hong Kong ($85,000), Beijing ($79,000), Shenzhen ($77,000), and Taiwan’s Hsinchu ($69,000) follow.

For the full details, see the complete report at https://www.levels.fyi/2022/ .