Software Engineer job market, September 2026

Which skills postings mention

Share of the 9,467 Software Engineer postings we have read that name each skill. Ranked by how often it appears, not by how important anyone thinks it is.

These are mentions, not requirements. Our extraction returns one list per posting and does not separate “5+ years required” from “a plus”, so both are counted here. Read a percentage as how often a skill comes up, never as how often it is mandatory.

From 9,504 postings (65.9% of this role) whose full description we have read. That subset was selected by our job-matching system rather than at random, so treat this as describing the subset rather than the whole market. Why.

1. 1python45.2%
2. 2aws27.5%
3. 3c++24.2%
4. 4kubernetes22.9%
5. 5java21.9%
6. 6typescript21.9%
7. 7go20.1%
8. 8react19.1%
9. 9distributed systems19%
10. 10ci/cd18.6%
11. 11docker15.9%
12. 12linux13.4%
13. 13postgresql12.7%
14. 14javascript12.5%
15. 15gcp12.4%
16. 16sql11.5%
17. 17azure11.2%
18. 18rest apis10.7%
19. 19observability10.4%
20. 20terraform10.4%
21. 21testing10.4%
22. 22rust10.1%
23. 23git10%
24. 24c9.8%
25. 25nodejs9.7%

python leads at 45.2%, then aws at 27.5% and c++ at 24.2%. A skill appearing in a third of postings is worth learning; one appearing in 5% is worth knowing exists.

How much experience is expected

The seniority mix below covers all 14,412 postings. Among the ones we have read, half of those stating a number ask for 5+ years, and the middle 50% sit between 4 and 8.

1. 1No level in title41.1%
2. 2Senior31.9%
3. 3Staff12.8%
4. 4Principal6%
5. 5Entry level / junior3.1%
6. 6Lead2.9%
7. 7Internship1.8%
8. 8Manager0.2%
9. 9Director+0.2%

What it pays

Annual base ranges as stated by employers. Read the caveats at the bottom before quoting any of these — the disclosing minority is not a random sample.

From 9,504 postings (65.9% of this role) whose full description we have read. That subset was selected by our job-matching system rather than at random, so treat this as describing the subset rather than the whole market. Why.

Where the jobs are

Share of postings by metro. Postings we could not place to a metro are not counted here, so these shares describe the located subset.

1. 1Remote10.9%
2. 2San Francisco, CA10.1%
3. 3Other — CA8.5%
4. 4Silicon Valley, CA8.2%
5. 5New York, NY6.4%
6. 6Other — MD5.1%
7. 7Other — VA3%
8. 8Seattle, WA3%
9. 9Washington, DC2%
10. 10Boston, MA2%
11. 11Los Angeles, CA1.9%
12. 12Austin, TX1.8%
13. 13Other — CO1.6%
14. 14Chicago, IL1.3%
15. 15Other — TX1.1%

Remote, hybrid or on-site

16.6% of these postings are explicitly remote and 22.8% are explicitly on-site. A large "not stated" share is normal — many descriptions simply never say.

1. 1Not stated41%
2. 2On-site22.8%
3. 3Hybrid19.6%
4. 4Remote16.6%

From 9,504 postings (65.9% of this role) whose full description we have read. That subset was selected by our job-matching system rather than at random, so treat this as describing the subset rather than the whole market. Why.

Who is hiring

Employers with the most open Software Engineer postings this month. The number beside each is their posting count.

• CORP-Corporate Office628
• Anduril Industries413
• SpaceX263
• 02 CACI, INC.-FEDERAL194
• Speechify107
• Roblox97
• Palo Alto Networks, Inc.95
• Databricks93
• Pae88
• Anthropic74
• Walt Disney Attractions Technology LLC74
• GE Vernova74
• OpenAI68
• Cisco Systems, Inc.66
• Cloudflare66

Visa sponsorship

27.6% of Software Engineer postings sit at employers that appear in US government H-1B approval records for the last three fiscal years. That is a property of the employer, not a promise about this role.

Employers hiring most for this role who appear in those filings:

• Speechify107
• Roblox97
• Databricks93
• OpenAI68
• Cisco Systems, Inc.66
• Cloudflare66
• Waymo58
• ServiceNow56
• Bright Vision Technologies55
• CoreWeave52
• Nuro48
• Coinbase39

A further 5.7% of these postings are at employers whose job descriptions state that they sponsor, but which we could not find in the approval records. That is a weaker signal, so we count it separately rather than adding it to the figure above. It may simply mean the employer sponsors under a different legal name.

Separately, 17.4% of these postings require a security clearance, which in practice means US citizenship. If you need sponsorship, that slice of the market is closed to you regardless of the employer’s history — worth filtering out early rather than discovering at the final stage.

How to prepare, based on the above

Nothing in this section is generic advice. Every line is read off this month's numbers for this role.

1. Learn python, aws, c++ first. They appear in 45.2%, 27.5% and 24.2% of postings respectively. Anything below roughly 10% on the list above is a differentiator, not a prerequisite — useful once the top of the list is solid, and a poor use of your time before that.
2. Expect to be asked for 5 years. A stated minimum is a filter, not a rule, and the 4-year figure at the 25th percentile is the realistic target for the most reachable quarter of this market. Apply to those before the ones asking 8+.
3. Apply to far more postings than feels reasonable. With 4.9% of postings open to entry level, the addressable market for a new graduate this month is roughly 711 postings nationally. That is a volume problem before it is a quality problem.
4. Anchor on $159k–$222k when pay comes up — the middle half of disclosed ranges. Below the 10th percentile of $128k you are being underpaid relative to what employers in this corpus publish for the role.
5. If you need sponsorship, start from the employer, not the posting. 27.6% of this role’s postings are at companies that appear in H-1B approval records. Filtering by employer history first is a far better use of your time than applying broadly and asking later.