Software engineer salary in Houston, TX
Software engineers in the Houston metro earn a median of $129,440 a year. That is 4.8% below the US median, and 3.5% below it once you account for lower prices in Houston.
Median salary
$129,440
US median: $135,980
The middle half earn
$101,190 – $159,450
25th to 75th percentile
After cost of living
$131,240
Houston prices: 1.4% below US average
H-1B median offer
$114,754
1,873 approved applications
Pay range
The top 10% of software engineers in Houston earn more than $181,770 a year. The bottom 10% earn less than $80,400.
10th percentile $80,400, 25th $101,190, 75th $159,450, 90th $181,770.
10th percentile $82,460, 25th $105,210, 75th $171,980, 90th $214,670.
10th percentile $100,741, 25th $105,976, 75th $146,911, 90th $163,775.
Line: 10th to 90th percentile. Box: the middle half (25th to 75th). Dark mark: the median.
How far the pay goes in Houston
Prices in Houston are 1.4% below the US average, which makes the median worth $131,240 in US-average dollars. Housing is the exception. It costs 4.5% more than the US average.
Black line: US average = 100. Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2024.
Other tech jobs in Houston
Median yearly pay and the number of people in each job across the Houston metro.
| Job | People | Median |
|---|---|---|
| IT managers | 13,090 | $172,160 |
| Software engineers | 22,940 | $129,440 |
| Information security analysts | 2,110 | $126,370 |
| Network architects | 2,200 | $124,900 |
| Database administrators | 1,090 | $116,030 |
| Computer systems analysts | 8,510 | $113,440 |
| Data scientists | 4,060 | $106,750 |
| Network and systems administrators | 6,330 | $101,430 |
| QA analysts and testers | 2,420 | $98,690 |
| Web and digital interface designers | 830 | $96,750 |
| Computer programmers | 1,340 | $96,440 |
| Web developers | 1,060 | $89,040 |
| IT support specialists | 12,840 | $59,250 |
What H-1B employers offer in Houston
From October 2025 to June 2026, the Department of Labor approved 1,873 H-1B applications for software engineers in the Houston metro, from 976 employers.
Median offer
$114,754
Middle half
$105,976 – $146,911
Employers
976
Applications by wage level
- Level I (entry): 209
- Level II: 896
- Level III: 310
- Level IV (most experienced): 356
- Not stated: 102
These are salaries offered on approved applications, not salaries paid. Each application lists only its main work site.
Job outlook
+15.8%
The BLS expects over 267,000 more software developer jobs across the US from 2024 to 2034. Jobs overall are expected to grow 3.1%.
172 open tech jobs in Houston right now
From 53 companies. 16 were posted in the past week.
Sources and notes
- Salaries and job counts: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (published May 15, 2026), Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands metro. The BLS counts software engineers as "Software Developers" (job code 15-1252).
- Cost of living: US Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.
- H-1B offers: US Department of Labor, H-1B application data, October 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026. Approved H-1B applications with job code 15-1252 and a work site in one of the metro area's 10 counties.
- Job outlook: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2024 to 2034, whole US.
- Open jobs: counted on hiredaemon as this page loads.