Highest Paying Countries for Software Engineers

Last Updated on December 19, 2022 by Omoyeni Adeniyi

If you want to become a software engineer, you need to know where the highest paying countries for software engineers are. We’ll explain what we mean by highest paying countries and how much they pay (in dollars). We’ll also cover what skills make you the most valuable as a software engineer. If you want to know more about which country has highest demand for software engineers, Looking for more report about best countries for software engineers 2020, or get a detailed info on the topic, then continue reading here on collegelearners!

The United States of America  is currently the best paying country for software engineers with an average software engineer salary estimated at $110, 638. So, aside from the United states, what are the highest paying countries for software Engineers? You want to know more? Keep reading to find out. In this post we will analyze software engineer salaries in over 150 countries. Use this guide to learn about the top 10 highest paying countries for software engineers with tips from career expert. You need not worry as you have come to the right source for the latest information on the software developer salary & which country has highest demand for software engineers.

Get full details on the best countries for software engineers 2021, software engineer salary in uk, highest salary of software engineer in world, which country has highest demand for software engineers & software engineer salary in Europe, USA, UK and Australia. You can also discover more related posts on which country pays software engineers the most  on Collegelearners.

Which Country has Highest Demand for Software Engineers

If you are looking for the best countries for software engineers in 2020 and beyond, on this post our list of some the highest paying countries for software engineers are the United States, Canada, Australia, Norway and Switzerland. The average annual salary is USD 104 852. Of course these places have plenty of talented software engineers. However, what they also have in common are high taxes, a strong currency and a high cost of living. If you receive the same salary in the top three countries as you do in China for example- you’ll be able to live 3 times better with your money in China.

Software engineers in the USA and Switzerland receive the highest salaries. Generally, speaking developers in European countries are the most highly paid with Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and the UK appearing in the list for countries with the highest salaries for software engineers.

Software Engineer Salary With PhD

best countries for software developers 2021

If you wish to know more about which country has highest demand for software engineers we have compiled a great list of countries that pay the best for software engineers working in different cities.

1. United States

US is the world’s top paying country, with an average software engineer salary of $95,744 per annum – around £82,000. As tech startups continue to pop up across the country, and as The Big Five (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft and Google) continue to grow, it is expected for the US to keep its number one position for the foreseeable future.

2. Israel

Average Salary – $134,000

Pre-tax salaries in this country start at around 20,000 NIS per month and this rises to 40,000 NIS per month once one gains more experience in the industry. There is high demand from big companies such as Google, Amazon, Facebook, Qualcomm, HP and many start ups. Tel Aviv is a hot tech hub.

3. Australia

Average Salary – $105,000

Software engineers in Australia get a salary of AUD85,000 annually as mid level and as one goes into a senior position it can rise to AUD150,000 and above.

4. Canada

Average Salary – $96,000

Experienced software engineers in Canada are paid around CAD128,000 years. The top cities for this career are Calgary, Vancouver and Toronto.

5. Denmark

Average Salary – $91,000

A software engineer working in Copenhagen makes 600,000KR per annum when working for big companies. Start-up companies pay around 35k per month.

6. Switzerland

Average Salary – $90,000

At the start of one’s career when one has little experience, software engineers based in Zurich make around CHF5,500 per month working around 42 hours a week. Once one has gained experience it can rise to CHF90,000 annually.

7. United Kingdom

Average Salary – $89,000

A typical graduate in Software Engineering in the UK has a salary that starts from £18,000 a year and this rises to between £25,000 and £50,000 when one has some years of experience. Very experienced engineers make over £70,000 annually.

8. Germany

Average Salary – $85,000

Software engineers in Germany make €45,000 at the start of their careers with limited experience. Those with over 10 years experience are able to make €75,000 annually. Berlin, Munich and Hamburg are the top paying locations in the country with salaries hitting over €100,000 annually.

9. Japan

Average Salary – $83,000

The salary of a software engineer in Japan depends on a variety of factors such as whether it is a Japanese company or a foreign subsidiary, size of the company and whether you can speak English and/or Japanese. The average salary here ranges at 9 million yen annually.

10. China

Average Salary – $75,000

China is an emerging global center for technology and currently has a number of huge tech companies such as Tencent, Alibaba, Baidu, Huawei etc. This led to a hiring boom and growth in wages in technology industry as they struggled to lock in top talent just like their rivals in Silicon Valley. The average software engineer with over 10 years experience makes 520,000 RMB. Team leaders with experience can make more than 1.5 million yuan annually.

Get full details on The Average Software Engineer Salary in Europe, Average Entry-level vs Senior Software Developer Salary in the World, and which country pays more for software engineers

The Average Software Engineer Salary in Europe

According to Payscale, the highest software engineer salary in Europe is paid in Switzerland – $88,773, Norway – $60,934, and Denmark – $66,878 per year.

The average software engineer salary in Germany is $55K, while in the Netherlands the salary falls to $51K per year. The average software developer salary in Sweden, Finland, and France ranges from $41K to $45K per year. Average software developer salary in the UK is $40K and is the lowest among other countries. 

Average Software Engineer Salary in Europe 2020

• Switzerland —  $88,773
• Norway —  $60,934
• Denmark —  $66,878
• United Kingdom —  $40,356
• Sweden —  $45,222
• Germany —  $54,705
• Netherlands —  $51,268
• Finland —  44,323
• France —  $40,558

Employment

Most software engineers work as employees or contractors. Software engineers work with businesses, government agencies (civilian or military), and non-profit organizations. Some software engineers work on their own as consulting software engineers. Some organizations have specialists to perform all of the tasks in the software development process. Other organizations separate software engineers based on specific software-engineering tasks. These companies sometimes hire interns (possibly university or college students) over a short time. In large projects, software engineers are distinguished from people who specialize in only one role because they take part in the design as well as the programming of the project. In small projects, software engineers will usually fill several or all roles at the same time. Specializations include:

• in industry (analysts, architects, developers, testers, technical support, managers)
• in academia (educators, researchers)

Average Software Developer Salary in Asia 2021

Highest Paying Countries For Software Engineers

Top 10 Highest Paying Countries for Software Engineers

Across the world, talented developers are in high demand nowadays. But how do software engineer salaries reflect today’s tech-talent market?

The world of software engineering is an exciting field and learning to code can lead many places. CollegeLearners.com has created a list of the 20 highest paying countries for software engineers using data from multiple sources, including Payscale.com’s report, “High-Paying, in-demand Jobs in Software Development.”
To answer this question, the start-up CodinGame published its 2020 Developer Survey after questioning over 20,000 developers in 125 countries. The company asked these coding passionate to share their yearly salary with them and, after analyzing the results, CodinGame was able to create a ranking of the 10 top-paying countries.

Software engineer salary by country

If you are interested in knowing the top software engineer salary 2020 and beyond, the reality is that you can still earn a very competitive salary in the United States if you are an expert software engineer, but there are some higher paying countries that you may want to consider, especially if you want a higher quality of life.

1. United States of America $83,082
2. Canada $72,412
3. United Kingdom $64,513
4. Netherlands $64,045
5. Germany $58,503
6. Belgium $56,260
7. France $52,052
8. Spain $37,655
9. Poland $34,138
10. Ukraine $28,184

Keep reading to know more about what software engineering is, countries with high demands for software engineers and the best country for software development

What is Software Engineering

Software engineering is the study and application of engineering to the design, development, and maintenance of software. Software engineering is a branch of computer science that includes the development and building of computer systems software and applications software. Computer systems software is composed of programs that include computing utilities and operations systems. Operations systems control the allocation and usage of hardware among various applications and users. Applications software consists of user-focused programs that include web browsers, database programs, etc.

Software engineering is a relatively new field, first recognized as its own discipline in 1968 by the NATO Science Committee. Since then, it has become an expansive field with a large set of methodologies with differing aims and approaches.

Software engineering is the application of engineering principles to create software. Software engineers work in the software development life cycle by connecting the client;s needs with relevant technology solutions. Here is a list of countries that with the highest paid software engineers:

There is a lot of investment going into software engineering at the moment due to the increasing reliance on mobile technology, venture capital-backed start-ups, the growing complexity of technology, and emerging industries.

Average Entry-level vs Senior Software Developer Salary in the World

If you want to be paid well as a software engineer, these are the countries for you. These are countries where the average salary is greater than $90,000, which means either being a software developer in these countries will ensure that you make good money or you’ll be well compensated for your work despite lower pay than other countries. Switzerland pays the highest junior software developer salary – $72K, while senior software developers earn $105K (PayScale). In the USA, the junior software developer’s salary is $68K and reaches $121,521 for senior developers. 

Entry-level vs Senior Software Developer Salary Around the World 2020

which country pays more for software engineers

The US is the world’s top-paying country, with an average software engineer gross salary of $95,744 per annum. As tech startups continue to pop up across the country, and as The Big Five (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Google) continue to grow, the US is set to keep their number one status for the foreseeable future.

Seattle, baptised “the new Silicon Valley”, especially stands out as the American city where developers are paid the most, with a real adjusted average salary of $105,735. The city has been up and coming for years and can be considered as a coveted work capital for tech talent. Seattle does not only rely on startups: some of its major employers include Microsoft, Salesforce and Adobe.

In the top ten ranking, Germany sits in second position, followed closely by the United Kingdom with an average software engineer gross salary of $59,326.

Software engineers’ salaries vary depending on the sector

The country of work isn’t the only component to influence a developer’s salary. The company you work for, the position you occupy, whether you’re an entry-level developer or a senior software engineer, the industry you work in, etc., all impact a software engineer’s paycheck.

In CodinGame’s 2020 survey, it was noted that, for example, the best-paid developers work in the insurance industry, followed by the media and healthcare industries.

The difference is roughly 25% between software engineer salaries in both high-paying industries and lower-paying industries, such as public administration.

Does salary equal wealth?

According to CodinGame’s ranking, The US, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Canada all offer average software engineer salaries of over $55,000 per annum.

However, quality of life isn’t directly linked to money in the bank because depending on where one lives, buying power isn’t necessarily connected to one’s bank balance either.

In the US, for example, buying power is strongly impacted by the cost of health care, largely owned and operated by private sector organisations. A software engineer salary in the US will most likely leave room for savings, should they fall ill, although this will lower buying power compared to developers living in countries with universal health care, such as the UK.

The busyness, the noise, the pollution, and the living costs are just too much for some software engineers who will move to a particular country or city because of the laid-back environment.

The salaries of tomorrow

Tech talent market salaries will evolve over the next year, with some rising faster than others. For example, according to LinkedIn, more than half of tech recruiters in the UK (54%) have stated that they’ve had to increase their salary offers following Brexit. Another 43% say that their companies have had no choice but to give raises to existing tech team members to retain their services.

On a separate note, remote work and freelancing are gaining popularity amongst developers who crave flexibility – changing the way programmers are hired and paid.

This trend is expected to result in an increase in developers’ earnings, either because developers are securing high salaries by working for companies based in big-buck cities (Paris, Seattle, San Francisco, Berlin, etc.) whilst living in areas where everyday costs are much more reasonable, or because developers are working independently and negotiating high pay for isolated projects.

Finally, it’s important to keep in mind that salary isn’t the only thing developers are interested in. In fact, when CodinGame asked developers what mattered most to them when considering a job offer, “salary” was in third place, behind technical challenges and flexible working hours.