Average Software Developers Salary in San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA
Software Developers in San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA earn a median annual salary of $163,270, which is +20.1% compared to the national median. There are 20,610 workers employed locally in this occupation.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, May 2025 estimates for San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA (metro area).
Local wage range
- 10th
- $95,420
- 25th
- $128,590
- Median
- $163,270
- 75th
- $193,980
- 90th
- $223,260
All values are percentiles of annual wages.
This local range is the useful part of the page. The median tells you the center of the market in San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA, while the percentile band shows how compressed or wide the local pay distribution actually is.
Cost-of-living context
Services: 174.2%
Rents: 179.3%
Comparable metros for this occupation
| Metro | Median annual wage | Compare | Employment |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $213,110 | Compare | 87,350 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $186,640 | Compare | 69,030 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $167,280 | Compare | 92,770 |
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | $166,830 | Compare | 121,000 |
| Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | $166,090 | Compare | 42,310 |
| Boulder, CO | $164,560 | Compare | 7,130 |
The point of this table is not random nearby places. It is to show the other labor markets where this same occupation looks stronger or weaker on the same OEWS release.
Top occupations in San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA
| Occupation | Median annual wage | LQ |
|---|---|---|
| Cardiologists | $493,670 | N/A |
| Psychiatrists | $335,620 | 1.13 |
| Physicians, Pathologists | $333,330 | 0.79 |
| Physicians, All Other | $323,050 | 1.24 |
| Airline Pilots, Copilots, And Flight Engineers | $321,950 | 0.34 |
| Family Medicine Physicians | $295,530 | 1.28 |
| Obstetricians And Gynecologists | $293,400 | 0.47 |
| General Internal Medicine Physicians | $282,200 | N/A |
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA has salary data for 682 occupations. The highest-paid occupation in this area is Cardiologists.
Trend for Software Developers in San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA
Historical trend data is not yet available for this occupation in this area.
Outlook and page notes
Nationally, Software Developers are projected to change by +15.8% from 2024 to 2034, with 115,200 annual openings.
Use this page to answer three separate questions: what the occupation pays here, how large the local market is, and whether this market is unusually concentrated for the occupation.
For metro pages in particular, read long-term trend rows as directional until the area comparability layer is fully wired. OEWS area definitions can change over time, and that matters more at the metro level than at the state level.