$165K–$224K/yrOnsiteMid level
Software Engineer salary in California
From 1,124 US job postings that list pay, out of 1,281 open Software Engineer jobs in California. These are the amounts employers advertised, not pay reported by employees.
- Median pay
- $213ka year
- Middle half
- $179k–$253k25th to 75th percentile
- Postings with pay
- 1,124of 1,281 open jobs
Pay range
$150k$288k
Pay by experience level
| Level the posting asks for | Median a year | Postings |
|---|---|---|
| Entry level | $146k | 42 |
| Mid level | $183k | 258 |
| Senior | $215k | 636 |
| Lead / manager | $254k | 188 |
Top-paying companies
| Company | Median a year | Postings |
|---|---|---|
| OpenAI | $366k | 9 |
| Sierra | $310k | 9 |
| Mercor | $298k | 4 |
| Zoox | $295k | 6 |
| Wayve | $288k | 3 |
| $287k | 4 | |
| shepherd | $285k | 4 |
| Harvey | $273k | 3 |
| Block | $272k | 4 |
| Snowflake | $266k | 6 |
Companies with at least 3 postings that list pay.
Pay by city in California
| City | Median a year | Postings |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco, CA | $225k | 286 |
| San Mateo, CA | $220k | 57 |
| Sunnyvale, CA | $213k | 115 |
| Mountain View, CA | $213k | 153 |
| Los Angeles, CA | $207k | 32 |
| San Jose, CA | $206k | 57 |
| Palo Alto, CA | $201k | 42 |
| Santa Clara, CA | $201k | 83 |
| San Diego, CA | $174k | 57 |
Open Software Engineer jobs with pay listed
$170K–$190K/yrOnsiteFull-time
$132K–$175K/yrOnsiteSenior · Full-time
$199K–$248K/yrOnsiteSenior · Full-time
$220K–$357K/yrOnsiteSenior · Full-time
$174K–$252K/yrOnsiteSenior
How these numbers are made
- ApplyHour reads job postings straight from employers' own career sites (Workday, Greenhouse, Lever, iCIMS and 30 more), not job boards, and keeps the pay each posting states.
- Only open US postings for this job title count, with pay in US dollars of at least $10k a year. A range counts at its middle. Hourly pay is turned into a year at 2,080 hours (40 a week), daily pay at 260 days.
- These are advertised amounts, not what people are paid: bonuses, equity and tips aren't included. A company or place is listed once it has enough postings with pay.
- Updated November 11, 2026; the numbers move as jobs open and close.