Which Programming Language Pays the Most in 2023? Salary Rankings Revealed

In the past year, DevJobsScanner analyzed more than 10 million developer job postings (Oct 1 2022 – Oct 1 2023) to reveal the highest‑paying programming languages.

Only positions that listed a salary were considered; among 1.3 million paid positions, 230 k were language‑specific, and about 86 k originated from the United States.

10. Java

Average salary: ~ $118k; median salary: $117k; 23 K paid jobs.

9. Python

Average salary: ~ $125k; median salary: $120k; 14 K paid jobs. Widely used for data science and artificial intelligence.

8. Swift

Average salary: ~ $127k; median salary: $125k; 174 paid jobs. Primary language for iOS and macOS development.

7. Go

Average salary: ~ $130k; median salary: $128k; 1.2 K paid jobs. Developed by Google, simple, memory‑safe, and influenced by C.

Ruby developers' median salary ($136k) exceeds the average ($132k), indicating strong demand for mid‑ and senior‑level talent.

6. Ruby

Average salary: ~ $132k; median salary: $136k; 3.4 K paid jobs. Popular for web development with Ruby on Rails.

5. Scala

Average salary: ~ $135k; median salary: $130k; 533 paid jobs. Combines object‑oriented and functional programming, runs on the JVM.

4. C/C++

Average salary: ~ $136k; median salary: $125k; 3 K paid jobs. Used extensively in games, servers, databases, space exploration, and blockchain ecosystems.

3. ABAP

Average salary: ~ $137k; median salary: $134k; 134 paid jobs. SAP’s enterprise‑resource‑planning language.

2. Rust

Average salary: ~ $156k; median salary: $150k; 197 paid jobs. Memory‑safe systems language gaining traction in Web3 and blockchain.

1. Solidity

Average salary: ~ $188k; median salary: $180k; 136 paid jobs. Main language for Ethereum smart contracts.

Note: The survey only covered positions in the United States, so the results may differ for other regions.