Software Engineering salaries in California
Software Engineering professionals in California earn $163.4–257.9K per year on average, based on 35 jobs. Software Engineering roles in California pay 28% above the board-wide average of $131.6–196.6K for Software Engineering jobs on Tech Jobs. Pay ranges from $140.3–219.3K for Mid-level roles up to $177–280.6K at the Senior level.
Average salary range
$163.4–257.9K
Based on 35 jobs · 28% more than the average salary on Tech Jobs
25th percentile
$142.5K
Average
$210.6K
75th percentile
$288.8K
Software Engineering salaries by seniority in California
Software Engineering salaries in California range from $140.3–219.3K for Mid-level roles to $177–280.6K for Senior positions.
| Seniority | Avg. salary | Jobs | vs Avg. on Tech Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mid-level | $140.3–219.3K | 13 | +10% |
| Senior | $177–280.6K | 22 | +39% |
Other top paying titles in California
Highest paying job titles in California beyond Software Engineering, ranked by average salary.
Software Engineer
Avg. $153.9–241.7K · 23 jobs
Backend Engineering
Avg. $172.3–278.7K · 23 jobs
AI Engineer
Avg. $176.5–256.8K · 15 jobs
Machine Learning Engineer
Avg. $182.2–268.2K · 15 jobs
DevOps Engineer
Avg. $131.4–190.5K · 10 jobs
Backend Development
Avg. $153.8–227.6K · 10 jobs
Top paying skills in California
Highest paying skills in California, ranked by average salary.
Python
Avg. $163.9–247.8K · 91 jobs
AWS
Avg. $163.1–239.5K · 35 jobs
Kubernetes
Avg. $162.6–240.1K · 31 jobs
SQL
Avg. $162.1–238.6K · 27 jobs
Distributed Systems
Avg. $165.2–267K · 26 jobs
CI/CD
Avg. $159.2–245.5K · 26 jobs
Other locations for Software Engineering
Compare Software Engineering salaries in other locations.
United States
Avg. $143.5–222.3K · 85 jobs
San Francisco, CA
Avg. $173.3–271.5K · 21 jobs
New York
Avg. $167.8–227.9K · 11 jobs
Virginia
Avg. $118.4–177.3K · 6 jobs
New York, NY
Avg. $180–224K · 5 jobs
Software Engineering salary FAQs for California
All salary figures are converted to annual equivalents in USD. Averages are based on published jobs with salary data and filtered for statistical outliers.