Software engineer career path at tech companies · 2,484 roles · 90 days to Oct 16, 2026
Updated
In short
Of the 2,484 software engineer roles at tech companies in the 90 days to Oct 16, 2026, 880 are senior, more than at any other level. The median stated pay runs from $150k a year for mid-level roles to $232.9k a year for principal roles. Distributed Systems rises most. Among the roles whose requirements we could read, it is required in 179 of 875 (20%) senior roles and 110 of 271 (41%) staff roles. QA engineer roles share 8 of the 11 required skills listed for software engineer roles; no other role shares more.
Levels in order
Each level counts its own roles. A median shows only where 50 or more of that level’s roles state pay, and each is taken over a different set of roles.
| Level | Roles | Median stated pay | At least half ask for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Junior software engineer | 231 roles | $154.3k a year | 2+ years, 126 of 182 (69%) |
| Mid-level software engineer | 491 roles | $150k a year | 3+ years, 429 of 459 (93%) |
| Senior software engineer | 880 roles | $175k a year | 5+ years, 608 of 714 (85%) |
| Staff software engineer | 273 roles | $226k a year | 8+ years, 139 of 212 (66%) |
| Principal software engineer | 120 roles | $232.9k a year | 10+ years, 65 of 96 (68%) |
| Lead software engineer | 151 roles | $187.5k a year | 5+ years, 106 of 111 (95%) |
Lead titles say who leads a team, not a step above principal, so lead is listed last and not compared with the level before it.
What rises at the next level
Required skills asked for in a larger share of roles at the next level, by 5 points or more. Each count is out of that level’s roles whose requirements we could read.
Junior to mid-level
Out of 230 junior and 490 mid-level roles whose requirements we read.
| Skill | Junior | Mid-level |
|---|---|---|
| REST | 42 of 230 (18%) | 152 of 490 (31%) |
| SQL | 36 of 230 (16%) | 104 of 490 (21%) |
In the mid-level top 15, not in the junior top 15: AWS, CI/CD, Relational Databases
Mid-level to senior
Out of 490 mid-level and 875 senior roles whose requirements we read.
| Skill | Mid-level | Senior |
|---|---|---|
| CI/CD | 92 of 490 (19%) | 231 of 875 (26%) |
| AWS | 105 of 490 (21%) | 230 of 875 (26%) |
In the senior top 15, not in the mid-level top 15: Distributed Systems
Senior to staff
Out of 875 senior and 271 staff roles whose requirements we read.
| Skill | Senior | Staff |
|---|---|---|
| Distributed Systems | 179 of 875 (20%) | 110 of 271 (41%) |
In the staff top 15, not in the senior top 15: Kubernetes, Go, Observability, AI, System Design
Roles closest to software engineer, by shared skills
Compared over each role’s most-required skills, umbrella labels such as “Programming” left out. The more skills two roles share, the shorter the move between them.
QA engineer195 roles
8 shared: Python, TypeScript, REST, CI/CD, JavaScript, Java, Git, SQL
Median stated pay: $135k a year
Data engineer364 roles
5 shared: Python, AWS, CI/CD, Git, SQL
Median stated pay: $165k a year
Machine learning engineer323 roles
4 shared: Python, AWS, CI/CD, SQL
Median stated pay: $218.9k a year
Site reliability engineer219 roles
4 shared: Python, AWS, CI/CD, Distributed Systems
Median stated pay: $184k a year
More on software engineer roles
How we count: 2,484 roles from 1,449 employers in the 90 days to Oct 16, 2026, each role counted once however many boards post it. Methodology