Software Developer / Engineer
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
A Software Developer or Engineer designs or improves computer software. Oversees the entire software development process. Analyzes customer or user needs, designs programs, writes code or instructs computer programmers, tests design, and documents programs. May assist with upgrades or maintenance. May specialize in the design of computer applications or computer systems.
Job Outlook
There were 6544 Software Developer / Engineer job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 225527 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Software Developer / Engineer industry, which includes the Software Developer / Engineer career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2015:
Salary
Many new Software Developer / Engineer jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.
National
The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $120,801.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $112,518.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Software Developer / Engineer postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $102,962.
Education and Experience
Posted Software Developer / Engineer jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.
| Education Level | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Associate's Degree | 2.57% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 66.23% |
| Master's Degree | 22.86% |
| Doctoral Degree | 6.52% |
| Other | 2.58% |
Posted Software Developer / Engineer jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.
| Years of Experience | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 0 to 2 years | 15.42% |
| 3 to 5 years | 48.19% |
| 6 to 8 years | 22.39% |
| 9+ years | 14% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Software Developer / Engineer positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.
Baseline Skills
A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.
- Communication (32.9%)
- Problem Solving (21.2%)
- Troubleshooting (Problem Solving) (20.04%)
- Management (18.95%)
- Operations (15.09%)
- Leadership (13.24%)
- Writing (12.5%)
- Innovation (12.46%)
- Research (11.64%)
- Planning (11.26%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Java (Programming Language) (32.74%)
- Agile Methodology (36.47%)
- Git (Version Control System) (16.29%)
- Full Stack Development (12.62%)
- Application Development (8.77%)
- JavaScript (Programming Language) (27.13%)
- HyperText Markup Language (HTML) (11.46%)
- C (Programming Language) (12.63%)
- Algorithms (11.11%)
- Test Automation (10.36%)
- Angular (Web Framework) (12.21%)
- Software Development (45.54%)
- Unit Testing (11.74%)
- Application Programming Interface (API) (20.8%)
- C# (Programming Language) (18.6%)
- Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) (11.82%)
- Amazon Web Services (24.06%)
- C++ (Programming Language) (21.76%)
- Computer Science (50.6%)
- Version Control (12.09%)
- Code Review (15.03%)
- Computer Engineering (13.82%)
- Debugging (20.88%)
- Front End (Software Engineering) (9.4%)
- Software Development Life Cycle (13.56%)
- Linux (16.13%)
- Python (Programming Language) (32.28%)
- Scalability (17.36%)
- Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) (9.27%)
- CI/CD (14.5%)
- Software Engineering (61.03%)
- TypeScript (8.6%)
- Node.js (Javascript Library) (8.46%)
- RESTful API (12.27%)
- Programming Languages (11.41%)
- Web Services (9%)
- React.js (Javascript Library) (14.69%)
- Kubernetes (13.31%)
- Docker (Software) (13.15%)
- Microservices (12.1%)
- Jenkins (10.41%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Workflow Management (9.82%)
- Microsoft Azure (15.02%)
- JIRA (9.67%)
- Automation (19.38%)
- Business Requirements (7.67%)
- Operating Systems (8.43%)
- DevOps (13.23%)
- Scrum (Software Development) (13.94%)
- Project Management (9.49%)
- Machine Learning (7.59%)
- Software Systems (9.08%)
- Scripting (11.53%)
- SQL (Programming Language) (25.39%)
Distinguishing Skills
A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.
- .NET Framework (3.04%)
- Go (Programming Language) (6.39%)
- Back End (Software Engineering) (5.71%)
- Agile Software Development (5.59%)
- DevSecOps (3.28%)
- Spring Boot (4.88%)
- Azure DevOps (3.18%)
- Amazon S3 (3.23%)
- Android (Operating System) (2.55%)
- PHP (Scripting Language) (2.93%)
- Bash (Scripting Language) (3.48%)
- Architectural Design (4.86%)
- HTML5 (3.45%)
- Continuous Integration (9.37%)
- Software Testing (5.58%)
- Continuous Delivery (3.32%)
- Object-Oriented Design (4.37%)
- Unix (5.5%)
- Containerization (3.66%)
- Software Design Patterns (7.03%)
- Data Structures (6.33%)
- Embedded Systems (3.33%)
- Development Testing (4.48%)
- Programming Tools (3.49%)
- Front End Design (3.13%)
- Relational Database Management Systems (3.38%)
- Integration Testing (3.49%)
- MongoDB (4.45%)
- MySQL (5.22%)
- Relational Databases (6.88%)
- Apache Kafka (6.09%)
- PostgreSQL (6.48%)
- Embedded Software (3.45%)
- Github (5.83%)
- Apache Maven (3.46%)
- Spring Framework (5.09%)
- Software Quality (SQA/SQC) (5.93%)
- JSON (5.4%)
- Microsoft SQL Servers (4.66%)
- Microsoft Visual Studio (3.64%)
- JQuery (3.76%)
- Software Architecture (3.51%)
- User Interface (UI) (4.75%)
- Web Applications (5.01%)
- Requirements Analysis (3.64%)
- NoSQL (7.6%)
- Software Design (8.54%)
- Testability (2.9%)
- Test-Driven Development (TDD) (6.02%)
- Extensible Markup Language (XML) (5.52%)
- Vue.js (Javascript Library) (3.19%)
- Terraform (4.48%)
- Gitlab (3.78%)
Salary Boosting Skills
A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is listed.
- Full Stack Development (14.4%)
- Back End (Software Engineering) (6.52%)
- CI/CD (16.55%)
- Spring Boot (5.57%)
- Go (Programming Language) (7.29%)
- Git (Version Control System) (18.59%)
- Java (Programming Language) (37.36%)
- .NET Framework (3.47%)
- PHP (Scripting Language) (3.34%)
- Algorithms (12.68%)
- Amazon Web Services (27.46%)
- Amazon S3 (3.68%)
- Android (Operating System) (2.91%)
- Angular (Web Framework) (13.94%)
- Architectural Design (5.54%)
- C# (Programming Language) (21.23%)
- Containerization (4.17%)
- Computer Science (57.74%)
- Continuous Delivery (3.79%)
- Continuous Integration (10.69%)
- Data Structures (7.22%)
- Software Design Patterns (8.02%)
- Front End Design (3.57%)
- Github (6.65%)
- Scalability (19.81%)
- Python (Programming Language) (36.83%)
- Microsoft Visual Studio (4.16%)
- MongoDB (5.07%)
- Node.js (Javascript Library) (9.65%)
- Object-Oriented Design (4.99%)
- Software Architecture (4.01%)
- TypeScript (9.82%)
- Front End (Software Engineering) (10.73%)
- React.js (Javascript Library) (16.76%)
- Gitlab (4.31%)
- Vue.js (Javascript Library) (3.64%)
- Kubernetes (15.19%)
- Apache Kafka (6.94%)
- Terraform (5.11%)
- Docker (Software) (15%)
- Jenkins (11.88%)
- Microservices (13.81%)
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Software Developer / Engineer skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Software Engineer
- Software Developer
- Principal Software Engineer
- Full Stack Software Engineer
- Software Development Engineer
- Lead Software Engineer
- Software Engineering Intern
- Staff Software Engineer
- Servicenow Developer
- Software Systems Engineer
Similar Occupations
If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.
- Application Developer / Engineer
- Software Architect (General)
- Java Developer / Engineer
- Programmer / Analyst
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Software Developer / Engineer jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- Amazon (4104)
- Capital One (3889)
- Boeing (3386)
- Leidos (2816)
- Ford (2450)
- Lockheed Martin (2207)
- Northrop Grumman (2054)
- Actalent (2015)
- CTG (1974)
- Randstad (1974)
North Carolina
- Randstad (359)
- MetLife (231)
- Wells Fargo (167)
- Actalent (122)
- Kforce (121)
- Fidelity Investments (109)
- Lowe's (78)
- Truist Financial (69)
- Applied Research Associates (65)
- CTG (64)
NC State Programs Relevant to this Career
If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!
- Computer Programming Undergraduate Certificates
- Computer Science Graduate Certificates
- Computer Science Master's Degrees
- Foundations of Data Science Master's Degrees
- Operations Research Master's Degrees
All wages, job posting statistics, employment trend projections, and information about skill desirability on this page represents historical data and does not guarantee future conditions. Data is provided by and downloaded regularly from Lightcast. For more information about how Lightcast gathers data and what it represents, see Lightcast Data: Basic Overview on Lightcast's Knowledge Base website.