This is what we do all day: recruit technology and IT professionals.
See where an offer lands against published BLS percentiles. BLS publishes five points, so we show a band, never a single percentile number.
Reference range for Software Engineer, national, until you pick a role.
Enter an offer amount to see where it lands against the BLS percentiles.
Software Engineer, the United States, annual wages
Measure
Per year
10th percentile
$82,460
25th percentile
$105,210
Median
$135,980
75th percentile
$171,980
90th percentile
$214,670
Mean
$148,100
Read this first
BLS reports Software Developers as a broader occupation. It does not separate Software Engineer, technology stack, seniority, certifications or employer sector. These figures are not a title-specific offer range. Figures are for SOC 15-1252 Software Developers.
BLS wages: Wages for the OEWS survey are straight-time, gross pay, exclusive of premium pay. Base rate; cost-of-living allowances; guaranteed pay; hazardous-duty pay; incentive pay, including commissions and production bonuses; and tips are included. Excluded are overtime pay, severance pay, shift differentials, nonproduction bonuses, employer cost for supplementary benefits, and tuition reimbursements.
Values shown as "or more" are top-coded.
Reference period: May 2025. Percentiles describe all workers in the occupation, not experience levels.
How should a hiring manager read an offer band?
Technology Headhunters compares the cash pay you enter with released BLS wage points for the selected occupation and area. The result is a band between published points, not a precise percentile assigned to your offer. Choose the role first and read its mapping note before treating the occupation as a useful comparison for your opening.
An offer for a platform engineer can involve a different set of responsibilities from another opening mapped to the same occupation. The checker cannot price those differences. Use the occupation label to check what is being compared, then return to the actual systems, ownership and work location in your job description. A broader mapping is a limit on the evidence, not a reason to hide the figure.
Enter the base pay and the incentive pay included by the OEWS definition. Keep excluded overtime, benefits, relocation and discretionary bonus separate. If you also enter current pay, its marker is another number you supplied. It does not turn the BLS distribution into a forecast of what the candidate will accept.
The output identifies whether the offer falls below, between or above released wage points. An amount between the median and the next point stays in that band. The checker does not call it a numbered percentile. When an upper point is top-coded, the displayed lower bound remains open; an exact wage beyond that bound is not manufactured.
A missing metro estimate does not become a local estimate by borrowing a state wage. When the tool falls back, it names the state or national area actually used. Compare that label with the location you intend to hire in before carrying the result into a search request.
Use the dollar difference from the median as a question to discuss, rather than a verdict on the candidate. A reporting line, an on-site requirement or a counteroffer may matter even when cash pay is within a published band. The checker does not score those terms. Its job is to make the wage evidence and its limits readable.
You can view the offer result without providing an email. The work-email gate is for the downloadable report. Your offer input is included in the intake only when you submit that gate or a search request carrying it. Opening the calculator does not create a search or send an outreach campaign.
Does the offer checker estimate an exact percentile?
No. It uses the five percentile points BLS releases. An offer between two points stays in the corresponding band, without an interpolated percentile.
What if the offer is above a top-coded wage point?
The result describes the published lower bound. It does not claim to know the exact wage distribution beyond the BLS top-code threshold.
Does viewing an offer result require an email?
No. The result is public. Work email is requested when you ask for a downloadable report or send a recruiting request.