California · 2025 pay · 88 people
How much does a software engineer make in California?
$120,572typical pay for a software engineer in 2025
$105,704 – $132,476what most people earned
Includes everyone paid during 2025, including part-year workers. Typical pay rose 4.8% from 2024.
✓ Official data from 4 agencies · Matches each agency's latest release · Show sourcesHide sources
- California State Controller's Office · sco.ca.gov ↗
- California State Controller's Office · sco.ca.gov ↗
- California State Controller's Office · sco.ca.gov ↗
- California State Controller's Office · sco.ca.gov ↗
Where software engineers work
Typical pay at each employer, 2025 (everyone paid).
- San Luis Obispo County24 people$123,029
- Monterey County24 people$128,985
- Stanislaus County20 people$101,875
- Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority11 people$111,594
- Monterey County Superior Court5 people$129,367
- East Bay Municipal Utility District2 people$16,887
- Ventura County Superior Court1 person$29,857
- California Institute for Regenerative Medicine1 person$134,033
Pay by level
Levels with 5 or more people.
- Software Engineer I10 people$87,232
- Software Engineer12 people$115,119
- Software Engineer II33 people$115,673
- Software Engineer III33 people$132,944
Related jobs and the next step up
Same line of work at a different rank, by typical pay (full-year employees where we can tell).
- Software Engineer (this page)$120,572 (everyone)
- Senior Software Engineer$179,763 (everyone)
Highest-paid software engineers, 2025
Common questions
How much does a software engineer make in California?
The typical software engineer was paid $120,572 in 2025; most earned between $105,704 and $132,476. This counts all 88 people paid, including part-year workers.
How much of the pay is overtime?
Overtime made up 0.4% of all pay for software engineers in 2025.
Which job titles are included?
Everyone whose payroll title is Software Engineer, at any level (for example "Software Engineer I"). Part-time-schedule titles (such as "20 hours") are left out. Senior, supervising and trainee titles have their own pages.
Job titles are written out in full from the payroll's abbreviations (for example "SR CRRECTNL POLC OFCR" → "Senior Correctional Police Officer"). "Typical pay" is the median; "most earned" is the middle half. How we calculate this