Tech Industry Pay: US Data and How Compensation Is Structured
What US government data shows for technology occupations, why it can understate total pay at some employers, and how to compare base, bonus and equity.
Published by SalaryBases. Drafted with AI assistance and revised to remove or reword figures we could not trace to a source. Not reviewed by a licensed professional. Pay figures come only from the official datasets named beside each table and apply only to the country, year and definition stated there. Methodology
Technology pay is made up of several parts: base salary, an annual bonus at many employers, and at some employers equity such as stock units or options. Official wage statistics capture only part of that mix, so this guide separates what can be verified from what cannot.
What US government data shows
The table uses the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for May 2025. It lists the 10th percentile, the median and the 90th percentile for each occupation, which says more than a single average salary would.
| Occupation (SOC) | 10th pct. | Median | 90th pct. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Software Developers (15-1252) | $82,460 | $135,980 | $214,670 |
| Data Scientists (15-2051) | $67,240 | $120,230 | $199,130 |
| Computer and Information Research Scientists (15-1221) | $82,200 | $140,300 | $230,630 |
| Information Security Analysts (15-1212) | $75,090 | $129,180 | $199,850 |
| Computer Network Architects (15-1241) | $79,900 | $134,050 | $202,680 |
| Network and Computer Systems Administrators (15-1244) | $62,640 | $99,130 | $155,050 |
| Computer Systems Analysts (15-1211) | $67,340 | $105,850 | $167,710 |
| Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers (15-1253) | $61,440 | $104,300 | $167,010 |
| Web and Digital Interface Designers (15-1255) | $53,750 | $104,000 | $201,550 |
| Computer and Information Systems Managers (11-3021) | $107,550 | $175,140 | $297,510 |
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Scope: United States, national estimates, all industries, annual wages in US dollars (retrieved 9 October 2026). The median is the middle wage: half of the workers in the occupation earn more and half earn less; 10th/90th percentile mean 10% earn less/more. The survey covers wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments and excludes the self-employed, overtime, shift differentials, nonproduction bonuses, equity and employer benefit costs. BLS methodology.
Three things follow directly from the table:
- Medians span a range, not one number. Among the occupations listed, the median runs from $99,130 (network and computer systems administrators) to $175,140 (computer and information systems managers).
- Pay varies a lot inside one job title. For software developers the 10th percentile is $82,460 and the 90th percentile is $214,670, so the middle of the range tells you little about any individual offer.
- Managers sit above individual contributors in these data. The median for computer and information systems managers is higher than for every other occupation listed. These are different jobs, so the gap is not the raise someone receives on promotion.
Roles the data does not separate out
BLS has no category named product manager, DevOps engineer or site reliability engineer, so that work is counted inside broader groups such as software developers, computer systems analysts or network and computer systems administrators. Designers of digital products may appear under web and digital interface designers. Public figures for those specific titles usually come from self-reported surveys. We do not reproduce them because we cannot verify how they were collected. If you use such a number in a negotiation, check how many responses sit behind it and whether it measures base pay or total compensation.
How tech pay is structured
- Base salary: the fixed, guaranteed part.
- Bonus: a target percentage of base at many employers, often tied to company and individual performance.
- Equity: restricted stock units (RSUs) give you shares as they vest; stock options give you the right to buy shares at a set price. Equity in a private company can be hard to turn into cash, and its value can change a lot.
- Sign-on and refresh grants: one-off payments or additional equity.
A hypothetical example shows why total compensation matters. An offer with a $120,000 base and a $200,000 RSU grant vesting evenly over four years is worth $120,000 + $50,000 = $170,000 a year if the share price does not change, and more or less if it does. That is arithmetic, not a market figure. Compare offers on the same basis: our guides on negotiating equity and stock options and benefits beyond salary explain the details.
What public wage data cannot tell you
The BLS figures exclude nonproduction bonuses and do not reflect equity, so they can understate total pay at employers that pay a large share in stock. They also cover only wage and salary workers, not freelancers or founders. And they describe the United States: pay in other countries differs, and we do not publish unverified international figures.
Location and remote work
Pay depends on where you work (see the state example in our software developer guide) and, for remote roles, on how the employer sets pay. Our guide to remote work salary and geography explains the main approaches.
Putting this to use
Use the percentile range as a reality check, then build your own target from your experience, location and total package. The Salary Simulator gives a model-based estimate, which is not an official statistic (see our methodology), and the Job Offer Comparator lets you compare base, bonus and other terms side by side.
Key takeaways
- US medians for the listed tech occupations run from $99,130 to $175,140, with wide ranges inside each occupation.
- Product manager, DevOps and similar titles have no separate official category, so treat survey figures for them with caution.
- Equity can be a large part of pay at some employers, and official wage data does not capture it.
- Compare offers on a total-compensation basis, not on base salary alone.
Sources used in this guide
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025: methodology and tables — Every wage figure in the tables above (each row links to its own BLS occupation profile).
- BLS OEWS May 2025: technical notes (what the wage figures include and exclude) — Scope of BLS wage figures: wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments; excludes the self-employed, overtime, shift differentials and nonproduction bonuses.