Compensation by experience — Work data 2026 | Stack Overflow Developer Survey

Questions

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.

free text
Optional
v2026.1

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.

free text
Optional
v2026.1

Data

	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

Use this data

Citation

Response data is released under the ODbL 1.0, which asks that you attribute it.

Stack Exchange Inc. (2026). “Compensation by experience”. Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2026. Licensed under ODbL 1.0. https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/work/data/scatter-compensation-role

JSON

Structured for code, with the question, the year and the source url alongside the numbers.

{
  "question": "Compensation by experience",
  "dataId": "Scatter_Compensation_Role",
  "asked": "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.",
  "year": "2026",
  "url": "https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/work/data/scatter-compensation-role",
  "demographic": {
    "id": "all-respondents",
    "type": "all",
    "name": "All Respondents",
    "n": 12040,
    "share": null
  },
  "series": null,
  "columns": [
    {
      "key": "response",
      "header": "Compensation by experience",
      "unit": "",
      "numeric": false
    },
    {
      "key": "count",
      "header": "Respondents",
      "unit": "",
      "numeric": true
    },
    {
      "key": "median_yearly_salary_usd",
      "header": "Median salary",
      "unit": "$",
      "numeric": true
    },
    {
      "key": "mean_prof_years",
      "header": "Years of experience",
      "unit": "",
      "numeric": true
    }
  ],
  "licence": {
    "name": "ODbL 1.0",
    "url": "https://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/1-0/",
    "holder": "Stack Exchange Inc."
  },
  "source": "Stack Overflow Developer Survey",
  "data": [
    {
      "response": "Engineering manager",
      "count": 378,
      "median_yearly_salary_usd": 133263,
      "mean_prof_years": 18.5
    },
    {
      "response": "Senior executive (C-suite, VP, etc.)",
      "count": 176,
      "median_yearly_salary_usd": 131498,
      "mean_prof_years": 21.9
    },
    {
      "response": "Cloud infrastructure engineer",
      "count": 129,
      "median_yearly_salary_usd": 110000,
      "mean_prof_years": 16.2
    },
    {
      "response": "Architect, software or solutions",
      "count": 1023,
      "median_yearly_salary_usd": 102355,
      "mean_prof_years": 20.1
    },
    {
      "response": "Solutions engineer, implementation engineer, or forward-deployed engineer",
      "count": 144,
      "median_yearly_salary_usd": 101710,
      "mean_prof_years": 17.2
    },
    {
      "response": "Software engineer",
      "count": 105,
      "median_yearly_salary_usd": 101218,
      "mean_prof_years": 15.2
    },
    {
      "response": "AI/ML engineer",
      "count": 194,
      "median_yearly_salary_usd": 95337,
      "mean_prof_years": 12.1
    },
    {
      "response": "Founder or entrepreneur",
      "count": 111,
      "median_yearly_salary_usd": 94012,
      "mean_prof_years": 18.5
    },
    {
      "response": "Data scientist",
      "count": 155,
      "median_yearly_salary_usd": 90982,
      "mean_prof_years": 13
    },
    {
      "response": "Data engineer",
      "count": 233,
      "median_yearly_salary_usd": 90000,
      "mean_prof_years": 15.4
    },
    {
      "response": "Developer, back-end",
      "count": 1922,
      "median_yearly_salary_usd": 85296,
      "mean_prof_years": 14.5
    },
    {
      "response": "Developer, embedded applications or devices",
      "count": 412,
      "median_yearly_salary_usd": 85296,
      "mean_prof_years": 14.5
    },
    {
      "response": "DevOps engineer or professional",
      "count": 307,
      "median_yearly_salary_usd": 85096,
      "mean_prof_years": 14.2
    },
    {
      "response": "Developer, mobile",
      "count": 346,
      "median_yearly_salary_usd": 84277,
      "mean_prof_years": 14.2
    },
    {
      "response": "Developer, desktop or enterprise applications",
      "count": 559,
      "median_yearly_salary_usd": 80000,
      "mean_prof_years": 16.7
    },
    {
      "response": "Developer, full-stack",
      "count": 3761,
      "median_yearly_salary_usd": 79610,
      "mean_prof_years": 13.9
    },
    {
      "response": "Developer, game or graphics",
      "count": 108,
      "median_yearly_salary_usd": 77002,
      "mean_prof_years": 12.4
    },
    {
      "response": "Developer, front-end",
      "count": 441,
      "median_yearly_salary_usd": 70320,
      "mean_prof_years": 11.8
    },
    {
      "response": "Data or business analyst",
      "count": 119,
      "median_yearly_salary_usd": 67161,
      "mean_prof_years": 14.6
    },
    {
      "response": "Academic researcher",
      "count": 253,
      "median_yearly_salary_usd": 61413,
      "mean_prof_years": 12.6
    },
    {
      "response": "System administrator",
      "count": 122,
      "median_yearly_salary_usd": 55230,
      "mean_prof_years": 14.5
    },
    {
      "response": "Other",
      "count": 106,
      "median_yearly_salary_usd": 51000,
      "mean_prof_years": 15.7
    }
  ]
}

Markdown

A formatted table, ready to paste into a document, an issue or a prompt.

|  | 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 |

Spreadsheet

.csv is a plain text format which most spreadsheet software can open.