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Here’s what senior developers and engineering managers in the United States can expect to earn in base salary during 2026 and beyond.
While most base salaries have slightly declined over the past year, employers are increasingly offering higher pay for specialized skills, and candidates are negotiating with confidence again.
“Specialized skills are the currency of today’s job market,” said Dawn Fay, operational president at the recruiter Robert Half. “To attract and retain in-demand talent, employers must provide competitive pay along with meaningful benefits and perks or risk losing top candidates if their offers don’t measure up.”
What impact is this shift having on salaries?
Software engineering salaries have largely stagnated after a sustained period of unfettered growth. But as hiring starts to bounce back, candidates are in demand again, and good engineers are positioned to negotiate on salary.
“Low unemployment and competitive hiring allow high-demand tech candidates to be selective about the jobs they pursue, putting the onus on managers to give compelling reasons to join their team,” Robert Half’s latest trends report concluded.
As a result, 45% of technology managers say they intend to increase starting salaries to attract talent this year.
This is particularly pronounced for in-demand skills like proficiency with AI and machine learning, as well as cloud technology, migrations, and cybersecurity.
Managers are also looking to tempt employees back to the office, with 78% saying they are willing to increase starting salaries for new hires to work in the office full or part-time. Of those, 48% are offering workers up to 20% more pay to come in four to five days a week, according to Robert Half. Candidates say their ideal scenario is to work in the office three days per week.
Below, we have picked out the average midpoint base salaries for engineering and management roles in the United States from Robert Half’s 2026 Salary Guide, based on research conducted in April 2025.
Chief technology officer (CTO): $251,750
Software and applications manager: $156,500
DevOps engineer: $145,750
Site reliability engineer: $140,000
Software engineer/developer: $142,000
QA manager: $117,500
