Software Engineer salary in San Jose, CA: $213,110 median.
BLS reports occupational wages for the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA metropolitan statistical area (CBSA 41940), which includes San Jose, Sunnyvale and Santa Clara and surrounding communities. Figures describe that whole area, not San Jose city limits.
Software Engineers in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA metropolitan area earned a median annual wage of $213,110 in May 2025, according to BLS (OEWS, SOC 15-1252); the OEWS mean annual wage was $221,710. That median is 57% above the U.S. median of $135,980. BLS estimates about 87,350 people work in this occupation across the metro.
Data Among the 168 metro areas whose estimate for this occupation meets TryHired's reliability rule, this metro ranks 1 by median wage.
Data Separately, BEA puts 2024 price levels across the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA metropolitan area at 110.4 (U.S. = 100): prices for the average consumer are about 10% above the national level. That is context, not an adjusted salary.
What area these numbers cover
Data The BLS geography behind every figure on this page.
- Search label
- San Jose, CA
- BLS source geography
- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
- Geography type
- Metropolitan Statistical Area
- CBSA code
- 41940
- States
- California
- Delineation
- OMB Bulletin 23-01, as used by BLS OEWS May 2025
Local, state and national pay
Data Same occupation (SOC 15-1252), same BLS release (May 2025).
| Geography | Median annual wage | Mean annual wage | Employment |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA (metro, CBSA 41940) | $213,110 | $221,710 | 87,350 |
| California (state) | $174,410 | $186,770 | 284,390 |
| United States | $135,980 | $148,100 | 1,687,890 |
Software Engineer salary in California · National Software Engineer salary.
Data Nationally, BLS projects employment in this occupation to change +10.2% from 2025 to 2035. BLS does not publish metro projections in this dataset, so that is national context, not a local forecast.
Reliable metro medians in California
Data Metro areas that include part of this state and pass the reliability rule.
Use the local number
Advice Uses only what you type. A local, sourced median is easier to agree to than a national one.
How this page is built
BLS OEWS May 2025 estimates for the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA metropolitan statistical area (CBSA 41940) and SOC 15-1252 (Software Developers). San Jose, CA is the search label for that area; BLS does not publish city-limit wages. Employment is the number of people working in the occupation (excluding the self-employed), not job openings. Ranks use only metro estimates that pass the reliability rule (500+ jobs, employment PRSE ≤ 20%, mean-wage PRSE ≤ 10%, non-degenerate distribution); suppressed values are never imputed. Searches this page answers include “software engineer salary in silicon valley” (Ahrefs, U.S.).
- Cost of living: wages are not adjusted for local prices.
- Pay at a specific employer, in one city's limits, or for self-employed workers.
- Local outlook: BLS projections here are national.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 metropolitan-area estimates (2018 SOC; metropolitan statistical areas per OMB Bulletin 23-01), public domain.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections program, national occupational projections 2025–35 (no metro projections are published in this dataset).
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024 (released February 19, 2026).
More for Software Engineers
What the job is, skills, tools, pay and related roles.
Open →SalarySoftware Engineer salaryPay by percentile, state and metro, with a negotiation script.
Open →How to becomeSoftware Engineer how to becomeEducation, training and the skills to build first.
Open →ResumeSoftware Engineer resumeKeywords, bullet formulas and the skills to prove.
Open →Interview questionsSoftware Engineer interview questionsQuestions with what they test, plus practice mode.
Open →Free toolCheck your resumeParsed text, evidence per bullet, fixes first.
Open →