tl;dr: Texas is home to four rapidly growing tech hubs — Austin, Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio. According to Indeed and Glassdoor, two popular job/salary platforms, both entry-level and senior-level software engineering salaries are competitive throughout the state, making Texas a great option to start a long, successful career.
Table of contents
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Texas software engineering salaries
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Houston software engineering salaries
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Austin software engineering salaries
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Dallas software engineering salaries
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San Antonio software engineering salaries
Texas is where tech happens. There are multiple booming tech communities across the state, the homes of both young startups and established giants.
To better understand the landscape, we’ll be looking at a city-by-city breakdown of the average software engineer salary in Texas for all experience levels. If you want to become a software engineer in Texas, then we’re here to help you in your search.
Software engineer salaries in Texas overall
Before diving into the average software engineer salary, it’s important to discuss the main factors impacting it.
For starters, experience matters. An entry-level software engineer salary is significantly lower than a senior software engineer salary. The average web developer salary will also vary by industry, company, and city.
Keep that in mind when trying to compare software engineer salaries across cities. A smaller startup might offer less money but more perks or company equity. A larger enterprise company might offer higher salaries but not a stake in the company
Future growth in web developer roles is another reason why becoming a software engineer in Texas could be a smart career move. Web developer jobs in Texas are projected to grow 20% — compared to the national average of 15% — between 2016 and 2026.
If you’re just about convinced that Texas is the place to start your software engineering career, there’s one more question to ask: what city in Texas is best for software engineers?
Note: Glassdoor has updated data for junior-level positions, so we’ll use that in place of entry-level salaries. All data is based on most recent reports prior to publication.
Software engineer salaries in Houston
Entry-level
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Average Entry-level Software Engineer Salary (Indeed) – $64,194
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Average Junior Software Engineer Salary (Glassdoor) – $67,631
Senior-level
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Average Senior Software Engineer Salary (Indeed) – $114,686
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Average Senior Software Engineer Salary (Glassdoor) – $109,170
Average across all experience levels
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Average Software Engineer Salary (Indeed) – $99,535
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Average Software Engineer Salary (Glassdoor) – $87,098
Houston’s the most populous city in Texas and fourth-most populous city in the United States. It’s also one of the best tech cities ranking 12th out of 46 metro areas for net tech jobs added, according to the CompTIA CyberStates report.
We see a steady upward salary trend based on experience across every city. It makes sense. The more experience you have, the higher your salary. For software engineers, the difference between a junior developer and senior developer could be as much as $50,000.
A web development career can lead to long-term employment opportunities and steady pay increases, based on average software developer salary in Houston.
You can see those numbers on Glassdoor and Indeed.
On Indeed, the average entry-level software engineer salary in Houston was $64,194 while a senior software engineer earns an average of $114,686.
Glassdoor averages tell a similar story. The average junior software engineer salary was $67,631 compared to $109,170 for a senior software engineer.
Houston needs tech talent. While the city lost jobs in 2018, the number of tech job postings actually increased 140% year-over-year, based on the CompTIA report. Software engineer/web developer employment increased 2.1% year-over-year in the same report. Between 2018 and 2026, tech jobs in Houston are projected to grow 5.9%.
Software engineer salaries in Austin
Entry-level
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Average Entry-level Software Engineer Salary (Indeed) – $90,773
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Average Junior Software Engineer Salary (Glassdoor) – $69,342
Senior-level
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Average Senior Software Engineer Salary (Indeed) – $121,302
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Average Senior Software Engineer Salary (Glassdoor) – $108,059
Average across all experience levels
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Average Software Engineer Salary (Indeed) – $99,972
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Average Software Engineer Salary (Glassdoor) – $89,651
The average software engineer salary in Austin was significantly higher than the average salaries in Houston, according to Indeed and Glassdoor.
On Indeed, the average salary for an entry-level web developer was $90,773 and the average salary for a senior developer was $121,302.
The average salary on Glassdoor for a junior developer in Austin — $69,342 — was slightly higher than the average junior dev salary in Houston. Interestingly, that’s not the case as you climb up the ranks: the average senior software engineer salary was slightly lower than the average senior salary in Houston at $108,059.
Software developer and web developer employment increased 5.8% year-over-year, according to CompTIA. Tech employment in the Austin-Round Rock metro area is projected to increase 20.2% between 2018 and 2026.
Software engineer salaries in Dallas
Entry-level
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Average Entry-level Software Engineer Salary (Indeed) – $68,314
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Average Junior Software Engineer Salary (Glassdoor) – $68,374
Senior-level
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Average Senior Software Engineer Salary (Glassdoor) – $104,400
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Average Senior Software Engineer Salary (Indeed) – $115,212
Average across all experience levels
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Average Software Engineer Salary (Indeed) – $94,926
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Average Software Engineer Salary (Glassdoor) – $88,019
Dallas’s tech prospects are as bright as it gets in Texas. The Dallas-Fort Worth area saw year-over-year increases in software engineer/web developer employment (5.1%), job postings (123%), and net tech employment (2.7%) in 2018 per the CompTIA report.
The average software developer salary in Dallas compared favorably to Houston and Austin on Indeed. An average entry-level salary was $68,314, which was higher than Houston but lower than Austin. The average senior software engineer salary was $115,212, again falling between the average salaries for Houston and Austin.
That trend continued for junior software engineer salaries, but senior developer salaries in Dallas were lower than both Houston and Austin.
Software engineer salaries in San Antonio
Entry-level
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Average Junior Software Engineer (Indeed) – $91,593
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Average Junior Software Engineer (Glassdoor) – $65,596
Senior-level
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Average Senior Software Engineer (Indeed) – $111,369
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Average Senior Software Engineer (Glassdoor) – $106,378
Average across all experience levels
San Antonio may not have the tech clout that Austin has, but the city’s tech scene is growing rapidly. Net tech employment, job postings, and software developer/web developer employment all increased year over year, per the CompTIA report. Tech employment is projected to grow 12.9% between 2018 and 2026.
The average software developer salary in San Antonio was lower than the other Texas cities for junior and positions on Glassdoor. For senior positions, the average salary was lower than the other Texas city except for Dallas.
The average software engineer salary in San Antonio on Indeed was harder to pin down. The average junior salary was higher than the average salary for software engineers, which is usually not the case as the “average software engineer salary” covers a broader salary range leading to a higher figure. The average senior software engineer salary was lower than the other Texas cities.
