Software developers job market in California
Industry trends, wages and hiring signals.
The headline
California industry employment changed 0.6 percentage points above the U.S. benchmark
A data-driven view of the industries that employ Software developers in California.
Occupation pay
What Software developers earn in California
BLS OEWS occupation-level pay estimates for this role — separate from the industry wage trends used elsewhere in this report.
Median annual wage
$174,410California- Middle 50% of published wages
- $136,990 – $216,670
- U.S. median annual wage
- $135,980
- Reference period
- May 2025
The middle 50% is the 25th-to-75th percentile wage range, not an experience-level band. Suppressed or unavailable BLS values remain unpublished rather than being estimated.
Pay around California
How median pay varies by metro area
Published BLS OEWS metro estimates for Software developers, compared with the California median of $174,410.
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA$213,110+22.2% vs. state
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA$186,640+7.0% vs. state
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA$163,270−6.4% vs. state
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA$160,920−7.7% vs. state
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA$159,430−8.6% vs. state
Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA$158,290−9.2% vs. state
View 12 more published metro areas
Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA$156,910−10.0% vs. state
Napa, CA$153,130−12.2% vs. state
Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA$148,630−14.8% vs. state
Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA$139,640−19.9% vs. state
Stockton-Lodi, CA$138,550−20.6% vs. state
Vallejo, CA$136,930−21.5% vs. state
Salinas, CA$135,160−22.5% vs. state
San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA$135,020−22.6% vs. state
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA$133,270−23.6% vs. state
Merced, CA$132,120−24.2% vs. state
Yuba City, CA$132,120−24.2% vs. state
Chico, CA$131,360−24.7% vs. state
Areas are ordered by published median wage for readability, not as an overall job-market ranking. The vertical marker is the California median. Some BLS metropolitan areas cross state lines, so a metro estimate can cover workers in more than one state.
Verified snapshot
Market at a Glance
Key changes in California’s weighted industry mix.
Percentage-point gaps use the original published values and are rounded once; subtracting the rounded percentages can give a slightly different result.
Published coverage: 411,526 represented establishments, 81.87% of the published industry mix.
Local research
What the data shows for software developers in California
Findings describe the published observation periods shown below. Research published Oct 11, 2026.
This occupation is more concentrated in the state
Employment concentration provides a different comparison for software developers in California. In OEWS May 2025, the published location quotient is 1.44, meaning the occupation's share of employment is 1.44 times its national share. The state estimate is 284,390 jobs, 16.8% of the national employment estimate for this occupation. It represents 15.61 jobs per thousand jobs in the state's OEWS employment universe. This measures existing employment concentration, not current hiring or future growth.
OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWSOEWS employment estimates describe covered wage-and-salary jobs and exclude self-employed workers; location quotients do not measure vacancies or worker demand.
Published median pay is above the U.S. median
OEWS May 2025 records a state median annual wage of $174,410 for software developers in California. Against the national median of $135,980, that is 28.3% higher. A median describes the middle of the distribution and does not include a living-cost adjustment.
OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWSIndustry groups are pulling in opposite directions
The leading industry groups examined represent 94.9% of this occupation's national industry mix. Their California employment changes were mixed in January to March 2026: +1.1% year over year in Information, compared with -2.8% in Manufacturing. Those opposing movements are combined in the overall industry measure.
January to March 2026 · BLS QCEWPay differs widely between metro areas
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA's median wage of $213,110 is 77.9% higher than Modesto, CA's $119,770 in OEWS May 2025. Those are the high and low published estimates among 24 metro areas associated with California on the same wage basis. The comparison does not account for living costs or job availability.
OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWSMetro estimates may include areas in neighboring states. The comparison covers published metro estimates, not every part of the state.
Industry measures describe the industries associated with this occupation. They are not direct occupation employment, current openings or a state-level Job Market Health score. Findings describe published data and do not establish causes. Methodology
Employment trends
California industry employment over time
Year-over-year change in the weighted industries. The U.S. line is the latest-quarter benchmark because a comparable national quarterly history is not published here.
- California · 2026 Q1+0.3%
- U.S. · latest-quarter benchmark-0.3%
The chart will load automatically. Published values remain available in this report.
View every published value
| Quarter | California | Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 Q2 | -1.6% | 98% |
| 2024 Q3 | -0.5% | 98% |
| 2024 Q4 | -0.3% | 98% |
| 2025 Q1 | -2.2% | 98% |
| 2025 Q2 | -1.5% | 98% |
| 2025 Q3 | -1.5% | 98% |
| 2025 Q4 | -0.7% | 98% |
| 2026 Q1 | +0.3% | 98% |
How to read this chart
State trend and national reference
The solid line follows California’s published year-over-year industry employment changes by quarter. The dashed U.S. line is a latest-quarter reference, not a second time series.
- Published quarters
- 8
- Earliest quarter
- 2024 Q2
- Latest quarter
- 2026 Q1
- U.S. benchmark
- -0.3%
Quarters with no published value are omitted rather than interpolated.
Industry context
Where Software developers Work
The occupation mix determines which California industries are weighted into this view.
| Industry group | Occupation mix | Employment change | Establishments | Avg. weekly industry wage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Professional and business services | 50.1% | +0.4% | 259,522 | $2,887 |
| Information | 20.5% | +1.1% | 30,491 | $6,978 |
| Financial activities | 11.2% | +0.8% | 121,513 | $3,795 |
| Manufacturing | 8.0% | -2.8% | 44,316 | $2,955 |
| Trade, transportation, and utilities | 5.1% | -1.8% | 212,820 | $1,450 |
| 900000 | 2.0% | Not published | Not published | Not published |
Which industries are growing?
3 weighted industries are growing
Only weighted industries with a published positive California employment change are listed.
- Information+1.1%
- Financial activities+0.8%
- Professional and business services+0.4%
The remaining weighted industries published a flat or negative change in January to March 2026.
Current California context
Current California Market Signals
Statewide indicators for all occupations in California. They are not Software developers demand and are not part of the Job Market Health score.
Statewide job postings
Indeed job postings · California
Recent hiring-demand context · separate from the health score
Total postings index (seasonally adjusted) by observation date · baseline 100
The chart will load automatically. Published values remain available in this report.
View values: Indeed postings index
| Observation date | Index (Feb 2020 = 100) |
|---|---|
| Jul 24, 2026 | 85.61 |
| Jul 31, 2026 | 85.81 |
| Aug 7, 2026 | 85.07 |
| Aug 14, 2026 | 85.18 |
| Aug 21, 2026 | 85.00 |
| Aug 28, 2026 | 84.96 |
| Sep 4, 2026 | 85.33 |
| Sep 11, 2026 | 86.03 |
| Sep 18, 2026 | 86.72 |
| Sep 25, 2026 | 86.52 |
| Oct 2, 2026 | 86.28 |
| Oct 9, 2026 | 86.26 |
| Oct 16, 2026 | 86.29 |
| Oct 23, 2026 | 86.51 |
This is statewide demand across all occupations, not demand for this specific job. Postings are not a count of vacancies or hires, and Indeed does not cover the entire labor market.
Source: Indeed Hiring Lab · CC BY 4.0. Seven-day average, seasonally adjusted; publisher refreshes weekly and may revise history. Retrieved Oct 30, 2026 · saved source copy. JobMarketHealth calculates the displayed changes and samples weekly observations for the chart.
Statewide layoff notices
Statewide WARN notices
California statewide314 notices in this source
Notice dates from Aug 4, 2026 to Nov 1, 2026 (UTC), a rolling 90-calendar-day period.
What this means: This is the number of WARN notices with notice dates in this period in California’s official statewide list. It is a statewide count only, and does not identify any employer.
Notices describe planned workforce changes, not confirmed job losses. Notices may be amended or withdrawn. This statewide context is not occupation-specific and does not affect the Job Market Health score. WARN covers qualifying large layoffs and closures under applicable law, not all layoffs, and thresholds vary by state.
California Employment Development Department About WARN data
Source last checked
Career context
Related occupations
Related roles from the occupation’s published O*NET profile.
Questions answered by this release
Software developers in California FAQs
Each answer is limited to what QCEW 2026 Q1 actually publishes for this state.
Is employment growing for Software developers in California?
The available QCEW measure is not direct occupation employment. Employment across the California industries weighted to Software developers changed +0.3% year over year in January to March 2026, compared with -0.3% nationwide.
Are wages for Software developers rising in California?
QCEW does not publish pay for Software developers in this view. Average weekly wages across the weighted industries changed +2.9% year over year; that must not be read as an occupation salary change.
How complete is this California industry view?
The three core state trends each meet the site’s coverage floor; the minimum published coverage is 98% of the occupation’s industry mix.
Does this page show current Software developers openings?
No. QCEW measures industry employment, establishments and wages. Any postings, news or WARN figures shown here are statewide context and are not occupation-specific openings.
Methodology & sourcesQCEW 2026 Q1 · coverage 98% · full evidence record
Methodology & Sources
Derived by JobMarketHealth from BLS QCEW + published occupation industry mix. This is occupation-weighted industry context, not direct occupation employment and not a count of current job openings.
- Occupation
- Software developers
- SOC code
- 15-1252
- State
- California
- QCEW release label
- QCEW 2026 Q1
- Data period
- 2026 Q1
- State industry employment, year over year
- +0.3%State data coverage 98%
- U.S. benchmark, year over year
- -0.3%
- Difference from U.S. benchmark
- +0.6 percentage pointsPercentage-point gaps use the original published values and are rounded once; subtracting the rounded percentages can give a slightly different result.
- Establishments, year over year
- +4.1%State data coverage 98%
- Average weekly industry wage, year over year
- +2.9%State data coverage 98%
- Industry mix vintage
- BLS-NEM-2025-35
- BLS publication date
- Aug 28, 2026
- Source verification
- Verified against the committed source snapshotVerified Oct 9, 2026
- Canonical record URL
- https://jobmarkethealth.com/occupations/software-developers/california#evidence-record
- Derived by
- JobMarketHealth from BLS QCEW + published occupation industry mix
MethodologyBLS QCEWHow to citeQCEW state context release, 2026 Q1
Weighted industry conditions are not direct occupation employment, occupation wages, current openings or a state-level Job Market Health score. No causal explanation is inferred.