Software Engineer salary in California
Typical advertised pay for Software Engineer roles in California, from real job postings on FindRole.
Median advertised base salary
$214,500
Most postings fall between $183,650 and $235,750.
Based on 1193 postings across 76 companies. Updated October 27, 2026.
As of October 2026, the median advertised base salary for Software Engineer roles in California is $214,500, based on 1193 live job postings from 76 employers tracked by FindRole.
Published by FindRole · free to quote and reuse with attribution and a link to this page · how this is computed
Salary by seniority
| Level | 25th %ile | Median | 75th %ile | Postings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senior | $192,500 | $214,500 | $231,150 | 432 |
| Staff | $214,500 | $219,425 | $254,750 | 217 |
| Senior Staff | $214,300 | $259,500 | $287,812 | 32 |
| Principal | $214,500 | $215,000 | $306,600 | 117 |
| Lead | $197,033 | $215,000 | $216,300 | 18 |
| Not specified | $148,000 | $187,850 | $214,000 | 335 |
Skills employers ask for in Software Engineer roles are on the national page →
Top companies hiring Software Engineers
- Apple Inc 202 postings · median $214,000
- Walmart 170 postings · median $214,500
- SpaceX 117 postings · median $145,000
- Nvidia 96 postings · median $235,750
- Anduril Industries 82 postings · median $222,500
- Intuit 44 postings · median $238,250
- PayPal 38 postings · median $217,829
- DoorDash, Inc 31 postings · median $161,300
Open Software Engineer roles right now
The postings these numbers come from — see all Software Engineer jobs.
- Staff Software Engineer, Product Data Platform Brex · San Francisco, CA View →
- Staff Software Engineer, Identity & Access Management Brex · San Francisco, CA View →
- Senior Software Engineer, Data, AIML Apple Inc · Cupertino, CA View →
- Principal Software Engineer, Global Governance Walmart · Bentonville, AR View →
- Staff Software Engineer Walmart · Bentonville, AR View →
- Principal Software Engineer, At-Scale Reliability and Fleet Intelligence Nvidia · Santa Clara, CA View →
See which Software Engineer roles you actually match
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Create a free accountThese figures are the midpoint of the advertised salary range on real Software Engineer job postings indexed by FindRole — employer-stated base pay, not total compensation (they exclude equity and bonuses), and they reflect the roles we index rather than the whole market. A guide, not a guarantee.