---
title: "Work data 2026"
url: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/work/data
year: 2026
chapter: "work"
licence: "ODbL 1.0 (https://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/1-0/)"
---

# Work data 2026

Well, it ain’t what it used to be. This year, we’re finding survey respondents are less happy in their work—the numbers are showing less happy folks and more unhappy ones.  All that innovation and uncertainty can make it tough to feel comfortable in your job.

## 1.1 What and where work happens

### Relationship to coding

75% code as a primary job function; 91% create code at least occasionally. This survey is for and about a builder audience.

Asked as: Are you someone who creates code? Please select one of the following options that best describes you today. (`CodeMain`, single select, optional, v2026.1)

All Respondents · n = 30,794

|  | Respondents | Percent |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| I create code as a primary part of my job | 23,234 | 75.5% |
| I create code occasionally | 4,743 | 15.4% |
| I manage or support people who create code | 1,170 | 3.8% |
| I do not create code | 944 | 3.1% |
| I review/maintain code but rarely create it | 703 | 2.3% |

Every respondent group: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/work/data/code-main.md

### Educational attainment

66% hold bachelor’s or master’s degrees, but 23% have no completed university degree. Formal education is common, not universal.

Asked as: Which of the following best describes the highest level of formal education that you've completed? (`Education`, single select, optional, v2026.1)

All Respondents · n = 30,761

|  | Respondents | Percent |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| Bachelor's degree (B.A., B.S., B.Eng., etc.) | 12,396 | 40.3% |
| Master's degree (M.A., M.S., M.Eng., MBA, etc.) | 7,990 | 26.0% |
| Some college/university study without earning a degree | 3,813 | 12.4% |
| Secondary school (e.g. American high school, German Realschule or Gymnasium, etc.) | 2,431 | 7.9% |
| Professional degree (JD, MD, Ph.D, Ed.D, etc.) | 1,812 | 5.9% |
| Associate degree (A.A., A.S., etc.) | 942 | 3.1% |
| Primary/elementary school | 706 | 2.3% |
| Other, please specify | 671 | 2.2% |

Every respondent group: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/work/data/education.md

### Employment status

Employment varies notably by country: Germany 73%, France 71%, USA 69%, India 58%. India also has the highest student share at 19%.

Asked as: Which of the following best describes your current employment status? (`Employment`, single select, required, v2026.1)

All Respondents · n = 30,903

|  | Respondents | Percent |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| Employed | 20,259 | 65.6% |
| Independent contractor, freelancer, or self-employed | 4,607 | 14.9% |
| Student | 3,139 | 10.2% |
| Not employed | 1,742 | 5.6% |
| Retired | 607 | 2.0% |
| I prefer not to say | 549 | 1.8% |

Every respondent group: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/work/data/employment.md

### Employment additional status

Respondents often have overlapping obligations. 18% of employed respondents care for dependents, while substantial numbers combine employment, contracting, or study with additional paid work.

Asked as: Which of the following other current work, school, or life responsibilities are you currently engaged in? (`EmploymentAddl`, multi select, optional, v2026.1)

All Respondents · n = 28,099

|  | None of the above | Caring for dependents (children, elderly, etc.) | Engaged in paid work (20-29 hours per week) | Attending school (full-time) | Volunteering (regularly) | Engaged in paid work (less than 10 hours per week) | Attending school (part-time) | Engaged in paid work (10-19 hours per week) | Transitioning to retirement (gradually reducing work hours) |
| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| Employed | 8,763 | 3,954 | 3,441 | 646 | 1,994 | 1,031 | 916 | 609 | 240 |
| Student | 200 | 64 | 308 | 2,274 | 367 | 281 | 311 | 229 | 25 |
| Independent contractor, freelancer, or self-employed | 1,366 | 876 | 1,085 | 232 | 641 | 468 | 256 | 407 | 324 |
| Not employed | 939 | 209 | 67 | 114 | 227 | 115 | 111 | 57 | 44 |
| Retired | 260 | 75 | 20 | 11 | 190 | 34 | 17 | 20 | 80 |

Every respondent group: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/work/data/employment-addl.md

### Country

Asked as: Where do you live? (`Country`, single select, required, v2026.1)

All Respondents · n = 21,370

|  | Respondents | Percent |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| United States of America | 4,755 | 22.3% |
| Germany | 1,983 | 9.3% |
| United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | 1,374 | 6.4% |
| India | 1,309 | 6.1% |
| Canada | 851 | 4.0% |
| France | 794 | 3.7% |
| Netherlands | 577 | 2.7% |
| Poland | 527 | 2.5% |
| Australia | 522 | 2.4% |
| Ukraine | 484 | 2.3% |

Every respondent group: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/work/data/country.md

### Work Setting

Geography strongly shapes work arrangements. Remote work is 48% in the USA but 21% in France; India has the largest in-person share at 28%. Germany stands out for employee-controlled flexibility.

Asked as: Which best describes your current work situation? (`WorkSetting`, single select, optional, v2026.1)

All Respondents · n = 24,602

|  | Respondents | Percent |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| Remote | 8,564 | 34.8% |
| Hybrid (some remote, leans heavy to in-person) | 4,883 | 19.9% |
| In-person | 4,335 | 17.6% |
| Hybrid (some in-person, leans heavy to flexibility) | 3,823 | 15.5% |
| Your choice (very flexible, you can come in when you want or just as needed) | 2,997 | 12.2% |

Every respondent group: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/work/data/work-setting.md

### Industry

Most respondents are embedded in industries such as finance, healthcare, retail, education, and government.

Asked as: What industry is the company you work for in? (`Industry`, single select, optional, v2026.1)

All Respondents · n = 18,909

|  | Respondents | Percent |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| Software development | 3,785 | 20.0% |
| IT services, consulting, systems integration, or managed services | 2,914 | 15.4% |
| Other, please specify | 1,344 | 7.1% |
| Banking/financial services | 1,126 | 6.0% |
| Healthcare | 955 | 5.1% |
| Retail, e-commerce, or consumer services | 952 | 5.0% |
| Fintech | 853 | 4.5% |
| Education | 796 | 4.2% |
| Engineering services or applied R&D | 749 | 4.0% |
| Manufacturing | 749 | 4.0% |
| Government | 734 | 3.9% |
| Scientific research | 570 | 3.0% |
| Media or advertising services | 542 | 2.9% |
| Utilities, internet, or telecommunications | 542 | 2.9% |
| Transportation or supply chain | 485 | 2.6% |
| Energy | 410 | 2.2% |
| Insurance | 294 | 1.6% |
| Hospitality or travel | 226 | 1.2% |
| Non-profit or social services | 209 | 1.1% |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting | 207 | 1.1% |
| Life sciences or biotechnology | 173 | 0.9% |
| Mining or construction | 153 | 0.8% |
| Broadcasting or publishing | 141 | 0.8% |

Every respondent group: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/work/data/industry.md

## 1.2 Role functions

### IC or PM

81% identify as individual contributors, including 30% senior/staff ICs. Only 3% are exclusively people managers.

Asked as: Are you an individual contributor or people manager? (`ICorPM`, single select, optional, v2026.1)

All Respondents · n = 24,749

|  | Respondents | Percent |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| Individual contributor | 12,568 | 50.8% |
| Individual contributor in a senior or staff-level role | 7,517 | 30.4% |
| Both people manager and individual contributor | 3,828 | 15.5% |
| People manager | 836 | 3.4% |

Every respondent group: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/work/data/i-cor-pm.md

### Years coding

38% have coded for at least 20 years, and 17% for 30+ years. This is a highly experienced coding population.

Asked as: Including any education, how many years have you been coding in total? Please round to the nearest whole number, excluding any decimal points. (`YearsCode`, free text, optional, v2026.1)

All Respondents · n = 25,204

|  | Respondents | Percent |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| 0-4 years | 2,467 | 9.8% |
| 5-9 years | 5,021 | 19.9% |
| 10-14 years | 4,821 | 19.1% |
| 15-19 years | 3,432 | 13.6% |
| 20-29 years | 5,128 | 20.3% |
| 30-39 years | 2,512 | 10.0% |
| 40+ years | 1,823 | 7.2% |

Every respondent group: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/work/data/years-code.md

### Years of work experience

Asked as: How many years have you been working professionally in total? Please round to the nearest whole number, excluding any decimal points.  If you have no professional work experience, you can leave this question unanswered. (`WorkExp`, free text, optional, v2026.1)

All Respondents · n = 24,607

|  | Respondents | Percent |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| 0-4 years | 5,612 | 22.8% |
| 5-9 years | 4,519 | 18.4% |
| 10-14 years | 4,268 | 17.3% |
| 15-19 years | 3,030 | 12.3% |
| 20-29 years | 4,296 | 17.5% |
| 30-39 years | 1,929 | 7.8% |
| 40+ years | 953 | 3.9% |

Every respondent group: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/work/data/work-exp.md

### Title

Full-stack and back-end developers comprise 41% of titles.

Asked as: Which of the following best describes your current role, or the role you held for the most time in the past year? (`Role`, single select, optional, v2026.1)

All Respondents · n = 25,767

|  | Respondents | Percent |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| Developer, full-stack | 7,042 | 27.3% |
| Developer, back-end | 3,473 | 13.5% |
| Student | 1,823 | 7.1% |
| Architect, software or solutions | 1,792 | 7.0% |
| Developer, desktop or enterprise applications | 1,030 | 4.0% |
| Developer, front-end | 933 | 3.6% |
| Developer, embedded applications or devices | 731 | 2.8% |
| Academic researcher | 705 | 2.7% |
| Developer, mobile | 685 | 2.7% |
| Engineering manager | 603 | 2.3% |
| Other | 545 | 2.1% |
| DevOps engineer or professional | 527 | 2.0% |
| AI/ML engineer | 455 | 1.8% |
| Data engineer | 426 | 1.7% |
| Senior executive (C-suite, VP, etc.) | 374 | 1.5% |
| Founder or entrepreneur | 350 | 1.4% |
| Retired | 330 | 1.3% |
| Developer, game or graphics | 316 | 1.2% |
| Data scientist | 301 | 1.2% |
| System administrator | 299 | 1.2% |
| Data or business analyst | 254 | 1.0% |
| Solutions engineer, implementation engineer, or forward-deployed engineer | 244 | 0.9% |
| Cybersecurity or InfoSec professional | 228 | 0.9% |
| Software engineer | 219 | 0.8% |
| Cloud infrastructure engineer | 218 | 0.8% |
| Developer, QA or test | 203 | 0.8% |
| Developer, AI apps or physical AI | 200 | 0.8% |
| Applied scientist | 183 | 0.7% |
| Educator or instructor | 175 | 0.7% |
| Project manager | 158 | 0.6% |
| Product manager | 149 | 0.6% |
| Hardware engineer | 145 | 0.6% |
| Support engineer or analyst | 123 | 0.5% |
| Site reliability engineer | 119 | 0.5% |
| UX, research, or UI design professional | 97 | 0.4% |
| Database administrator or engineer | 94 | 0.4% |
| Developer advocate or developer relations professional | 61 | 0.2% |
| Financial analyst or engineer | 45 | 0.2% |
| Technical writer or documentation professional | 41 | 0.2% |
| Platform engineer | 37 | 0.1% |
| Marketing/Sales professional | 34 | 0.1% |

Every respondent group: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/work/data/role.md

### Functions at work

The typical role extends far beyond coding: 67% review code, 63% make architecture decisions, 56% document, and 52% deploy.

Asked as: In a typical week, which of the following activities are part of your work? Select all that apply. (`RoleFunctions`, multi select, optional, v2026.1)

All Respondents · n = 24,714

|  | Respondents | Percent |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| Writing, editing, or generating code | 22,221 | 89.9% |
| Debugging or troubleshooting | 20,573 | 83.2% |
| Reviewing code, pull requests, or technical changes | 16,494 | 66.7% |
| Making technical design or architecture decisions | 15,679 | 63.4% |
| Answering questions from teammates, customers, users, or stakeholders | 14,754 | 59.7% |
| Planning, scoping, or estimating work | 14,202 | 57.5% |
| Writing or updating documentation | 13,918 | 56.3% |
| Deploying or releasing software | 12,800 | 51.8% |
| Writing or maintaining tests | 12,618 | 51.1% |
| Changing production code, systems, or infrastructure | 12,334 | 49.9% |
| Investigating an incident, outage, or production issue | 11,486 | 46.5% |
| Monitoring systems, logs, metrics, or alerts | 10,955 | 44.3% |
| Maintaining dependencies, packages, or development environments | 9,720 | 39.3% |
| Coordinating work across teams or functions | 7,974 | 32.3% |
| Finding or fixing security, privacy, or compliance issues | 7,754 | 31.4% |
| Onboarding to a new project, tool, system, or codebase | 5,732 | 23.2% |
| Analyzing data, reports, or business metrics | 5,722 | 23.2% |
| None of the above | 834 | 3.4% |

Every respondent group: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/work/data/role-functions.md

## 1.3 Employer + technology details

### Employer organization size

34% work in organizations under 100 employees, while 30% work in organizations of 1,000+. Another 10% are solo workers.

Asked as: Approximately how many people are employed by your employer? This should only include your primary company. If you had more than one employer, please consider the one you spent most of your time working for in the past year. (`OrgSize`, single select, optional, v2026.1)

All Respondents · n = 21,115

|  | Respondents | Percent |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| 10,000 or more employees | 2,941 | 13.9% |
| 5,000 to 9,999 employees | 1,017 | 4.8% |
| 1,000 to 4,999 employees | 2,409 | 11.4% |
| 500 to 999 employees | 1,307 | 6.2% |
| 100 to 499 employees | 3,474 | 16.5% |
| 20 to 99 employees | 3,677 | 17.4% |
| Less than 20 employees | 3,555 | 16.8% |
| Just me - I am a freelancer, sole proprietor, etc. | 2,213 | 10.5% |
| I don’t know | 522 | 2.5% |

Every respondent group: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/work/data/org-size.md

### Tech budget status

Budget increases outnumber budget decreases 23% to 17%. However, 32% do not know their department’s budget direction.

Asked as: Has your department's budget increased, decreased, or stayed the same in your most recent budget cycle? When considering your department, refer to the one you are working in today. (`TechBudget`, single select, optional, v2026.1)

All Respondents · n = 20,915

|  | Respondents | Percent |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| I don't know | 6,757 | 32.3% |
| Stayed the same | 5,839 | 27.9% |
| Increased | 4,713 | 22.5% |
| Decreased | 3,606 | 17.2% |

Every respondent group: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/work/data/tech-budget.md

### Relationship to purchase decisions at work

59% influence requirements and 48% evaluate tools, but only 18% make final purchase decisions.

Asked as: Which of the following describes your role in choosing or using software tools at your organization? Select all that apply. (`PurchasePower`, multi select, optional, v2026.1)

All Respondents · n = 20,042

|  | Respondents | Percent |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| I influence tool choices by giving feedback or requirements | 11,916 | 59.5% |
| I evaluate, recommend, or shortlist tools | 9,664 | 48.2% |
| I use tools selected by others | 9,131 | 45.6% |
| I make the final decision to purchase tools | 3,552 | 17.7% |
| I do not have a role in choosing or using software tools at my organization | 3,320 | 16.6% |
| I approve or manage budget for tools | 1,867 | 9.3% |

Every respondent group: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/work/data/purchase-power.md

### Reasons to endorse a technology

Reliability is the leading recommendation driver at 17%, followed by productivity at 16%. AI features motivate only 2.3%, below community, developer experience, flexibility, trust, and documentation.

Asked as: Thinking about technologies you enjoy using for work, school, or personal projects, what is the main reason you would recommend one to others? Select one. (`TechEndorse`, single select, optional, v2026.1)

All Respondents · n = 22,371

|  | Respondents | Percent |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| It is reliable, performant, and stable | 3,874 | 17.3% |
| It helps me be more productive or save time | 3,563 | 15.9% |
| It has a strong community, ecosystem, or open-source presence | 2,888 | 12.9% |
| It has a strong developer experience, such as APIs, SDKs, tooling, or integrations | 2,541 | 11.4% |
| It is flexible, customizable, or easy to adapt to my needs | 1,678 | 7.5% |
| It has a reputation for quality and long-term trustworthiness | 1,666 | 7.5% |
| It has excellent documentation, examples, or learning resources | 1,370 | 6.1% |
| It is easy to learn and use | 1,226 | 5.5% |
| I’m not sure | 1,223 | 5.5% |
| Other, please specify | 632 | 2.8% |
| It has useful AI features or agent capabilities | 505 | 2.3% |
| It has strong security, privacy, or compliance features | 423 | 1.9% |
| It has manageable cost, pricing, or licensing | 421 | 1.9% |
| I would not recommend any technology I use | 361 | 1.6% |

Every respondent group: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/work/data/tech-endorse.md

### Count of tools used

35% report 10+ tools, and 8% report 20+ tools.

Asked as: In a typical month over the past year, about how many distinct software tools, platforms, or services did you personally use to do your primary work?

Count tools you intentionally opened, configured, or relied on to create, analyze, manage, build, deploy, support, or share work. These may be free, purchased, internal, or open-source tools.

Do not count general operating systems, web browsers, programming languages, libraries/packages, one-off scripts or commands, or multiple interchangeable utilities that serve the same narrow purpose. (`ToolCount`, free text, optional, v2026.1)

All Respondents · n = 14,836

|  | Respondents | Percent |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| 5 | 2,550 | 17.2% |
| 10 | 2,389 | 16.1% |
| 3 | 1,427 | 9.6% |
| 4 | 1,263 | 8.5% |
| 6 | 1,135 | 7.7% |
| 8 | 910 | 6.1% |
| 7 | 775 | 5.2% |
| 20 | 708 | 4.8% |
| 2 | 687 | 4.6% |
| 15 | 646 | 4.4% |
| 12 | 501 | 3.4% |
| 1 | 275 | 1.9% |
| 9 | 265 | 1.8% |
| 30 | 191 | 1.3% |
| 0 | 153 | 1.0% |
| 25 | 135 | 0.9% |
| 11 | 114 | 0.8% |
| 50 | 89 | 0.6% |
| 13 | 85 | 0.6% |
| 14 | 77 | 0.5% |
| 16 | 58 | 0.4% |
| 40 | 42 | 0.3% |
| 100 | 41 | 0.3% |
| 17 | 35 | 0.2% |
| 18 | 35 | 0.2% |

Every respondent group: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/work/data/tool-count.md

## 1.4 Job satisfaction + AI

### Job satisfaction

Just 22% are classified as happy, while 33% are unhappy and 45% are complacent

Asked as: How satisfied are you in your current professional role? (`JobSat`, nps, optional, v2026.1)

All Respondents · n = 18,876

|  | Respondents | Percent |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| Complacent at Work | 8,516 | 45.1% |
| Not Happy at Work | 6,161 | 32.6% |
| Happy at Work | 4,199 | 22.2% |

Every respondent group: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/work/data/job-sat.md

### Reasons to be "just okay" with current job

Asked as: If you feel complacent at work, what is the primary driver? (`JobSatComplacent`, single select, optional, v2026.1)

All Respondents · n = 8,312

|  | Respondents | Percent |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| I do not feel complacent | 2,889 | 34.8% |
| Burnout/tech fatigue | 1,753 | 21.1% |
| Economic uncertainty making me hesitant to switch roles | 1,545 | 18.6% |
| AI automating the challenging parts of my job | 822 | 9.9% |
| Lack of upward mobility due to corporate tightening | 811 | 9.8% |
| Other | 492 | 5.9% |

Every respondent group: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/work/data/job-sat-complacent.md

### Reasons your job is easy

Tools are the largest positive intervention at 20%, yet 21% say nothing made work easier. Supportive colleagues follow at 17%, showing that technical and human enablement matter similarly.

Asked as: In the past 6 months, which factor has done the most to make your job easier to do? (`JobEase`, single select, optional, v2026.1)

All Respondents · n = 18,521

|  | Respondents | Percent |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| Nothing has made my job easier in the past 6 months | 3,902 | 21.1% |
| Access to the right tools or platforms | 3,714 | 20.1% |
| Supportive teammates, managers, or mentors | 3,191 | 17.2% |
| Clear priorities or requirements | 1,314 | 7.1% |
| Better processes, workflows, or coordination | 1,256 | 6.8% |
| I’m not sure | 1,107 | 6.0% |
| Enough time, staffing, or resources | 1,088 | 5.9% |
| Other | 1,044 | 5.6% |
| Helpful documentation or knowledge sharing | 768 | 4.1% |
| Reliable systems, infrastructure, or environments | 741 | 4.0% |
| Leadership activity or organizational changes | 396 | 2.1% |

Every respondent group: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/work/data/job-ease.md

### Does AI make work easier?

AI is tightly associated with tool access: 68% say it was the main reason tools made work easier, and another 26% say it contributed. AI is much less likely to be the main reason supportive teams or clear priorities helped.

Asked as: For each factor that made your job easier, was AI or AI agents a reason? (`JobEaseAI`, scale, optional, v2026.1)
Asked as: In the past 6 months, which factor has done the most to make your job easier to do? (`JobEase`, single select, optional, v2026.1)

All Respondents · n = 11,973

|  | Yes, AI or AI agents were the main reason | No, AI or AI agents were not a reason | Yes, AI or AI agents contributed, but were not the main reason | I’m not sure |
| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| Access to the right tools or platforms | 2,493 | 213 | 968 | 14 |
| Supportive teammates, managers, or mentors | 147 | 2,113 | 847 | 57 |
| Clear priorities or requirements | 73 | 840 | 369 | 25 |
| Enough time, staffing, or resources | 117 | 558 | 374 | 29 |
| Better processes, workflows, or coordination | 242 | 475 | 508 | 17 |
| Reliable systems, infrastructure, or environments | 124 | 349 | 250 | 12 |
| Helpful documentation or knowledge sharing | 119 | 314 | 313 | 13 |

Every respondent group: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/work/data/job-ease-ai.md

### Reasons your job is difficult

In the past 6 months, work was made difficult mostly by unclear priorities (17%), inefficient processes (15%), and lack of time (14%).  A unifying thread among these factors is systemic operational friction.

Asked as: In the past 6 months, which factor has done the most to make your job harder to do? (`JobDifficulty`, single select, optional, v2026.1)

All Respondents · n = 18,214

|  | Respondents | Percent |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| Unclear priorities or requirements | 3,029 | 16.6% |
| Inefficient processes, workflows, or coordination | 2,658 | 14.6% |
| Not enough time, staffing, or resources | 2,566 | 14.1% |
| Leadership activity or organizational changes | 2,162 | 11.9% |
| Nothing has made my job harder in the past 6 months | 1,743 | 9.6% |
| Unreliable systems, infrastructure, or environments | 1,523 | 8.4% |
| Poor documentation or knowledge sharing | 1,292 | 7.1% |
| Other | 1,108 | 6.1% |
| I’m not sure | 865 | 4.7% |
| Lack of support from teammates, managers, or mentors | 761 | 4.2% |
| Lack of access to the right tools or platforms | 507 | 2.8% |

Every respondent group: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/work/data/job-difficulty.md

### Does AI make your job more difficult?

For each of the top two reasons users find their job difficult, unclear priorities and inefficient processes, 69% say AI was not involved.

Asked as: For each factor that made your job harder, was AI or AI agents a reason? (`JobDifficultyAI`, scale, optional, v2026.1)
Asked as: In the past 6 months, which factor has done the most to make your job harder to do? (`JobDifficulty`, single select, optional, v2026.1)

All Respondents · n = 12,246

|  | No, AI or AI agents were not a reason | Yes, AI or AI agents contributed, but were not the main reason | Yes, AI or AI agents were the main reason | I’m not sure |
| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| Unclear priorities or requirements | 2,084 | 597 | 202 | 126 |
| Inefficient processes, workflows, or coordination | 1,812 | 560 | 205 | 61 |
| Not enough time, staffing, or resources | 1,753 | 511 | 192 | 98 |
| Poor documentation or knowledge sharing | 869 | 229 | 123 | 62 |
| Unreliable systems, infrastructure, or environments | 832 | 344 | 253 | 85 |
| Lack of support from teammates, managers, or mentors | 517 | 143 | 62 | 27 |
| Lack of access to the right tools or platforms | 282 | 109 | 90 | 18 |

Every respondent group: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/work/data/job-difficulty-ai.md

## 1.5 Compensation

### Compensation by role, and top responding countries

Asked as: What is your current total annual compensation (salary, bonuses, and perks, before taxes and deductions)? Please enter a whole number in the box below, without any punctuation. If you are paid hourly, please estimate an equivalent yearly salary. If you prefer not to answer, please leave the box empty. (`Compensation`, free text, optional, v2026.1)

All Respondents · n = 12,040

_All respondents: limit bar charts to roles with 100 or more responses; Country-level: limit bar charts to roles with 30 or more responses.  All reflect median salary after being converted to USD._

|  | Respondents | Median salary |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| Engineering manager | 378 | $133,263 |
| Senior executive (C-suite, VP, etc.) | 176 | $131,498 |
| Cloud infrastructure engineer | 129 | $110,000 |
| Architect, software or solutions | 1,023 | $102,355 |
| Solutions engineer, implementation engineer, or forward-deployed engineer | 144 | $101,710 |
| Software engineer | 105 | $101,218 |
| AI/ML engineer | 194 | $95,337 |
| Founder or entrepreneur | 111 | $94,012 |
| Data scientist | 155 | $90,982 |
| Data engineer | 233 | $90,000 |
| Developer, back-end | 1,922 | $85,296 |
| Developer, embedded applications or devices | 412 | $85,296 |
| DevOps engineer or professional | 307 | $85,096 |
| Developer, mobile | 346 | $84,277 |
| Developer, desktop or enterprise applications | 559 | $80,000 |
| Developer, full-stack | 3,761 | $79,610 |
| Developer, game or graphics | 108 | $77,002 |
| Developer, front-end | 441 | $70,320 |
| Data or business analyst | 119 | $67,161 |
| Academic researcher | 253 | $61,413 |
| System administrator | 122 | $55,230 |
| Other | 106 | $51,000 |

Every respondent group: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/work/data/compensation.md

### Compensation by experience

Asked as: What is your current total annual compensation (salary, bonuses, and perks, before taxes and deductions)? Please enter a whole number in the box below, without any punctuation. If you are paid hourly, please estimate an equivalent yearly salary. If you prefer not to answer, please leave the box empty. (`Compensation`, free text, optional, v2026.1)
Asked as: How many years have you been working professionally in total? Please round to the nearest whole number, excluding any decimal points.  If you have no professional work experience, you can leave this question unanswered. (`WorkExp`, free text, optional, v2026.1)

All Respondents · n = 12,040

_Scatter charts are limited to data points with 100 or more responses.  All reflect median salary after being converted to USD._

|  | Respondents | Median salary | Years of experience |
| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| Engineering manager | 378 | $133,263 | 18.5 |
| Senior executive (C-suite, VP, etc.) | 176 | $131,498 | 21.9 |
| Cloud infrastructure engineer | 129 | $110,000 | 16.2 |
| Architect, software or solutions | 1,023 | $102,355 | 20.1 |
| Solutions engineer, implementation engineer, or forward-deployed engineer | 144 | $101,710 | 17.2 |
| Software engineer | 105 | $101,218 | 15.2 |
| AI/ML engineer | 194 | $95,337 | 12.1 |
| Founder or entrepreneur | 111 | $94,012 | 18.5 |
| Data scientist | 155 | $90,982 | 13 |
| Data engineer | 233 | $90,000 | 15.4 |
| Developer, back-end | 1,922 | $85,296 | 14.5 |
| Developer, embedded applications or devices | 412 | $85,296 | 14.5 |
| DevOps engineer or professional | 307 | $85,096 | 14.2 |
| Developer, mobile | 346 | $84,277 | 14.2 |
| Developer, desktop or enterprise applications | 559 | $80,000 | 16.7 |
| Developer, full-stack | 3,761 | $79,610 | 13.9 |
| Developer, game or graphics | 108 | $77,002 | 12.4 |
| Developer, front-end | 441 | $70,320 | 11.8 |
| Data or business analyst | 119 | $67,161 | 14.6 |
| Academic researcher | 253 | $61,413 | 12.6 |
| System administrator | 122 | $55,230 | 14.5 |
| Other | 106 | $51,000 | 15.7 |

Every respondent group: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/work/data/scatter-compensation-role.md

### Compensation by experience

Asked as: What is your current total annual compensation (salary, bonuses, and perks, before taxes and deductions)? Please enter a whole number in the box below, without any punctuation. If you are paid hourly, please estimate an equivalent yearly salary. If you prefer not to answer, please leave the box empty. (`Compensation`, free text, optional, v2026.1)
Asked as: How many years have you been working professionally in total? Please round to the nearest whole number, excluding any decimal points.  If you have no professional work experience, you can leave this question unanswered. (`WorkExp`, free text, optional, v2026.1)

All Respondents · n = 12,040

_Scatter charts are limited to data points with 100 or more responses.  All reflect median salary after being converted to USD._

|  | Respondents | Median salary | Years of experience |
| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| United States of America | 2,885 | $154,000 | 17.4 |
| Switzerland | 229 | $139,262 | 14.7 |
| Australia | 306 | $104,550 | 17.9 |
| Denmark | 123 | $104,214 | 14.2 |
| Norway | 110 | $103,004 | 15.5 |
| United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | 855 | $96,333 | 17.8 |
| Canada | 539 | $94,315 | 16.7 |
| Germany | 1,218 | $85,296 | 14.2 |
| Austria | 163 | $84,912 | 13.4 |
| Netherlands | 360 | $82,453 | 15.1 |
| New Zealand | 107 | $80,858 | 19.9 |
| Belgium | 117 | $74,964 | 13.8 |
| Sweden | 241 | $71,965 | 16.6 |
| Spain | 331 | $68,237 | 16.1 |
| Poland | 309 | $65,733 | 12.7 |
| France | 526 | $62,550 | 13.5 |
| Portugal | 135 | $61,413 | 12.7 |
| Czech Republic | 158 | $56,438 | 13 |
| Italy | 302 | $47,766 | 15.7 |
| Brazil | 244 | $36,002 | 15.5 |
| Ukraine | 259 | $35,800 | 10.2 |
| India | 472 | $18,802 | 8.8 |

Every respondent group: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/work/data/scatter-compensation-country.md