How to start a software development company (2 sources)
The median published figure in the Developer Pay Benchmark is 134,125 USD across 2 sources' own pages (range 132,270 to 135,980 USD), read 26 September 2026.
2 of the 7 named sources read in full publish a figure; 5 publish none, read 26 September 2026.
The median is unchanged since 25 September 2026 (was 134,125 USD across 2).
By measure
| Breakdown | Median | Range | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| measure onet-median-annual | 135,980 USD | 135,980 to 135,980 USD | 1 |
| measure oes-median-annual | 132,270 USD | 132,270 to 132,270 USD | 1 |
Every figure, with its source
One row per source: the figure the source's own page publishes, the page, and the day it was read. A figure that is not on a page we read is not on this one.
| Source | Figure | Breakdown | Read |
|---|---|---|---|
| O*NET OnLine - national wages, software developers (15-1252) | 135,980 USD | onet-median-annual | 2026-09-12 |
| US BLS - software developers (OES 15-1252) | 132,270 USD | oes-median-annual | 2026-09-12 |
The sentence each figure was read from (2)
- O*NET OnLine - national wages, software developers (15-1252), read 2026-09-12:
Hourly Wages $135,980
- US BLS - software developers (OES 15-1252), read 2026-09-12:
Annual Wage (2) $ 77,020 $ 101,200 $ 132,270 $ 167,540 $ 208,620
Read in full, publishes no figure
5 named sources were read in full on the dates shown and print no usable figure. They are counted, never filled in.
- ONS - earnings and hours worked, occupation by four-digit SOC (ASHE Table 14), read 2026-09-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- ONS - earnings and hours worked, region by occupation (ASHE Table 15, 2025 provisional), read 2026-09-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- US BLS - OES occupation profiles index, read 2026-09-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- US BLS - OES tables, read 2026-09-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- the statistical agency per country, read 2026-09-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
Methodology
Every row is a verbatim sentence read from the named source's own page through the estate's fetch service on the date shown, hash-pinned to the stored read (the sha of the page's visible text; the raw page is mirrored to R2).
2 of the 7 named sources that could be read published a usable figure; 5 published none and are recorded as not published, never filled in; 0 could not be read (blocked, dead or unreachable) and count nowhere.
The headline figures (median, minimum, maximum, quartiles) are over ONE figure per source in USD (a source's median where its page yielded several accepted sentences), so N counts sources, never sentences; 22 candidate sentence(s) were refused by a reviewer with the reason recorded.
Derivation as chartered: the statistical agency's median and percentile wages for software and web developers per country and per region, converted to a fully loaded employer cost with the statutory on-costs, and set beside the agency rate index at the same city - the figure nobody publishes being the BREAK-EVEN: how many agency hours a year of an employed developer buys in each city, and how that ratio has moved as wages and agency rates diverged
22 candidate sentences on these pages were refused by a reviewer; each refusal and its reason is recorded in the review ledger.
Sources (7)
- ONS - earnings and hours worked, occupation by four-digit SOC (ASHE Table 14) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- ONS - earnings and hours worked, region by occupation (ASHE Table 15, 2025 provisional) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- O*NET OnLine - national wages, software developers (15-1252) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- US BLS - software developers (OES 15-1252) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- US BLS - OES occupation profiles index (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- US BLS - OES tables (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- the statistical agency per country (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
Cite or embed this figure
Cite or embed this figure
The median published figure in the Developer Pay Benchmark is 134,125 USD across 2 sources' own pages (range 132,270 to 135,980 USD), read 26 September 2026.
2 of the 7 named sources read in full publish a figure; 5 publish none, read 26 September 2026.
Developer Pay Benchmark, measure onet-median-annual: median 135,980 USD across 1 source, read 26 September 2026.
Developer Pay Benchmark, measure oes-median-annual: median 132,270 USD across 1 source, read 26 September 2026.
The median is unchanged since 25 September 2026 (was 134,125 USD across 2).
Cite as: "FindAgency HQ Developer Pay Benchmark", updated 2026-09-26, https://findagencyhq.com/datasets/developer-pay-benchmark/.
Download the CSV (2 rows, computed 2026-09-26)