Judging by the number of software engineers in the US we can obviously see a growing trend when it comes to open positions for almost any type of programming job. Software engineers are the most sought after professionals on the market in 2021, and if all predictions are correct, they will continue to hold this title at least for the next decade or so.
In the United States, only 25.1% of all Software Engineers are women, as opposed to men, which account for 67% of the total Software Engineer jobs.
Software engineers in the USA are also some of the best-paid employees in the world right now, given that the United States is the globe’s leading economic power. It comes as natural to also have the best-paid minds working for them.
By 2030, it is estimated that 45 million people worldwide will be working as software engineers.
If you’re a young adult today and you’re still trying to decide on a future job, you should seriously consider studying software engineering in university, or picking up some software development courses. Be it online, or in person. Either way, they could do wonders for your career.
Women earned only 91% of what men earned for the same software engineering jobs.
In the event that you already have a job and a career, but you feel like there’s something more out there waiting for you, consider exploring the field of software engineering because it promises to pay back in full, especially if you’re great with numbers.
Now let’s go over some interesting software engineer statistics for 2021, and the upcoming period!
​​Software Engineer Statistics and Facts
If you’re already employed in this line of work, or if you are an HR specialist, you’re probably familiar with some of the software engineering statistics we are about to show you in the lines to follow.
However, we guarantee that you’ll be amazed by the latest and most updated list of programming statistics we have in store for you. We’ve done the necessary research so you don’t have to.
India will be the country with the largest software developer population in 2024.
The United States will fall in second place after Indian software engineers will take over this sector.
$86,157 is the average annual salary for software engineers in the United States.
Most software developers in the country work in San Diego (California), and in New York (New York). New York is also the state where software developers are most in-demand.
$112,152 is the annual average wage for IT developers working in San Francisco, California.
This is the highest annual average salary in this sector for software engineers in the United States.
By 2030, it is estimated that 45 million people worldwide will be working as software engineers.
That’s the total population of a country like Argentina.
$65,000 per annum is the average starting salary for software devs in the United States.
This is considered pretty low in this sector of activity, however the salaries will continue to grow exponentially and at a very rapid pace.
Asia-Pacific is the number 1 region when it comes to the growth in numbers for software engineering jobs.
Latin America comes in second place.
Only the top 10% of the highest-paid software developers earn $113,000 or more per year.
These numbers have extreme variations, as elite IT programmers can earn several millions of dollars annually.
1 to 2 years is the average number of years a software engineer stays at the same job.
45% of software developers say that they enjoy working in the same places for a period of 2 years maximum.
8 million software developers are Java specialists.
All the numbers have been provided by the Developer Economics report for the third quarter of 2020.
6.6 million software engineers are PHP developers.
Based on the data provided for 2019. In 2013, there were just around 5 million PHP software engineers.
12.4 million is the number of software developers using JavaScript
These numbers have been presented by Developer Economics in Q3 of 2020.
53% of all software developers have used JavaScript at least once in their careers
JavaScript continues to be the dominant programming language used by most software developers worldwide.
Around 70% of all software developers have used JavaScript at least once in the last 12 months.
This statistic continues to validate the importance of JavaScript as a programming language.
5.9 million software engineers are specialized as Android apps developers.
Based on the data provided by EvansData in 2020.
2.8 million software developers work in iOS app development.
This number is almost half compared to the number of current Android mobile apps developers in the world.
38.5% of all software testers use Selenium.
This is the preferred software testing platform for almost all the employees working in this sector of activity.
14 million software engineers worked as mobile app developers in 2020.
And by the looks of it, the numbers will continue to grow for the foreseeable future.
8 million IT specialists are currently working as .NET developers.
The vast majority of the software engineers listed above prefer using C#.
Approximately 49.79% of all software development teams use JIRA as their main project management platform.
That means that almost half of the currently employed software engineers use the platform provided by Atlassian.
5.4 million software developers use C++.
The number of software engineers working with C++ has grown by 1 million since 2015.
Over 7 million software developers use Python as their main programming language.
Python is rapidly becoming the most popular programming language around the globe.
Approximately 24% of executives choose to outsource their software development needs.
This practice has led to the creation of thousands of companies in India, Latin America, and Eastern Europe.
6.2 million software engineers used C# in 2018.
These numbers have surely grown over the past 3 years, however more updated numbers have not been publicly made yet.
57% of IT companies worldwide plan to focus even more on software development from now on.
Software development is one of the most important services an IT company can produce, and that’s why more than half of the businesses in this domain are switching their focus in this direction.
6 million software developers worldwide work in Big Data and Advanced Analytics.
If you need any more proof of just how valuable data (mainly your data) is in 2021, look no further than here. The more companies invest in Big Data and Advanced Analytics, the clearer it is that data will become the currency of the future.
Roughly 29% of software engineers have used some form of Artificial Intelligence (AI), or Machine Learning (ML) as of 2018.
To put things in a better perspective, that means 6,4520,000 software developers with an extra 5,8 million that will start using AI and ML in the next couple of years.
Approximately 4 million IT programmers use cloud-based development environments.
That represents 26% of all software developers around the globe.
The demand for AR/VR (Artificial Intelligence / Virtual Reality) software engineers grew by 1,400% in 2019.
If you were looking for some interesting software engineering statistics, look no further than this 1400% growth which is extremely impressive.
22% is the projected growth for the employment of software engineers between 2019 and 2029.
This means that over 10 million people will join the ranks of software developers within the next 8 years.
4.42% is the Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) for software engineering outsourcing services.
The EMEA area (Europe, Middle East, Africa) will account for roughly 60% of the specified overall growth of the IT outsourcing sector.
Approximately 29% of all software developers contribute to open-source software.
Software developers that choose to contribute to open-source software do so in order to improve their coding skills, as well as to help out the community.
8% is the drop in software developer job listing in 2020.
This number can be seen not as a decrease in the need for software engineers, but as a decrease in developers who are willing to change their workplace during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Approximately 51.7% of the total number of software developers work 40 to 44 hours weekly.
Almost half of all software developers choose not to work extra hours to receive additional money for their overtime.
63% of the total software development budget is spent in the development stage.
Every time a company produces a new software, it will only have 37% of the budget to spend on the department’s other needs.
$129,000 per year is the highest average salary for software developers.
Machine learning and data science software engineers are the highest-paid developers, according to the latest industry statistics.
21% is the estimated growth when it comes to the demand for software development jobs.
This number is estimated to be reached by 2028, while for other computer-related jobs, the growth is projected to be around 11%.
Software Developer Demographics
The software development industry is becoming more and more attractive not just for young people who just recently finished their university studies, but also for the more mature segment of the working force.
A lot of employees from other non-related fields are thinking about undergoing a professional reconversion period in order to restart their careers and start working as software developers.
Only 25.1% of all Software Engineers in the United States are women, as opposed to men, which account for 67% of the total Software Engineer jobs.
This means that just a little over a quarter of the United States’ total software engineers are women, leaving the male segment of the population to dominate this sector.
39 years is the average age for Software Engineers in the United States.
In other words, in a matter of 10 years or more, we’ll witness a rejuvenation in this sector, with more and more people starting IT and programming courses.
53,9% of all software developers are white, according to a study on ethnicity in this sector.
The second most prominent ethnicity in the United States working in software engineering is Asian, with 31.2%, followed by Hispanic and Latino with just 7.2% of the total programming jobs.
33% of women programmers stated that personal curiosity and an interest in new technologies is the single most important driver of their work development.
These numbers are in contrast with only 22% of their male colleagues stating the same thing.
62% of all US-based software engineers work in the public sector.
As opposed to 38% who chose to work for private companies.
Spanish is the second most spoken language (after English) by software engineers in the United States, with 24.5%.
Chinese comes next with 11.4%, followed by French with 10.2%, Mandarin with 7.5%, German with 7.2%, and Other languages are spoken by 39.2% of software developers.
TOP Industries for Software Engineers
As expected, most software engineers work in the technology sector, covering almost half of the total positions in this industry.
- Technology – 40%
- Fortune 500 Companies – 20%
- Telecommunication – 6%
- Finance – 5%
- Start-up – 4%
- Internet – 4%
- Retail – 4%
- Professional – 4%
- Manufacturing – 3%
- Media – 3%
- Health Care – 2%
- Automotive – 2%
- Transportation – 1%
- Nonprofits – 1%
- Hospitality – 1%
How Many Software Engineers in the World?
Given that this profession is in extremely high demand all around the world, it comes as no surprise that the number of software engineers has been constantly increasing for the past few years. All the trends provided by Evans Data Corporation show that the numbers will keep growing.
Currently, there are approximately 26.9 million software developers worldwide.
This number is expected to grow to 27.7 million in 2023 and if all estimates are correct, the total number of software engineers will reach 28.7 million by the year 2024. This proves once again just how important the software engineering sector is to our society, having a constant need for innovation and evolution.
How Many Software Developers Are There in India?
India is the world’s second-largest country by population (after China), and this means that it’s only natural for this area to also provide one of the highest percentages of software developers worldwide.
5.8 million developers are currently employed in India, according to the latest numbers provided in 2020.
Indians have a knack for software development and testing, and this industry is one of the most stable in the country. Being a software engineer means that you can provide for yourself and your family, make a nice living, and if you’re really good at it, you can even live a luxurious life. This applies to any country around the globe, as the IT sector has some of the highest wages to date.
How Many Software Engineers in the U.S?
The United States is one of the world’s largest employers when it comes to the IT sector and the numbers are definitely here to prove this statement. Since IT workers are also some of the highest-paid employees in the world, this industry will continue to attract top talent for decades to come.
Approximately 4.3 million Software Engineers are currently employed in the United States.
These numbers speak volumes about the huge interest in this sector, especially if you consider the financial remuneration part. You can work as a software engineer in the United States without formal education. All you need to have is the skills required to code in different program languages required by the employer. Think about it like this. It’s much easier to become a software engineer than a doctor, and you get paid a lot better, in a shorter period of time.
TOP 10 US States With the Highest Percentage of Software Developers
| State | Percentage (%) of Software Developers |
| Washington DC | 6.46% |
| Virginia | 4.43% |
| Maryland | 4.41% |
| Washington | 3.75% |
| Massachusetts | 3.64% |
| Colorado | 3.48% |
| New Jersey | 3.40% |
| New Hampshire | 3.35% |
| Delaware | 3.16% |
| California | 3.15% |
TOP 10 US States With the Highest Number of Software Developers
| State | Number of Software Developers |
| California | 628,414 |
| Texas | 324,717 |
| New York | 218,041 |
| Virginia | 204,699 |
| Illinois | 186,426 |
| Florida | 181,314 |
| New Jersey | 162,977 |
| Pennsylvania | 152,900 |
| Maryland | 147,430 |
| Washington | 143,971 |
How Many Software Developers Are There in Europe?
Europe is one of the world’s leading powers when it comes to the IT sector, and if you take into consideration the dense talent pool combined from all the countries which form the “Old Continentâ€ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ, you are bound to find some of the most talented software engineers living and working here.
5.5 million software developers are currently working and living in Europe.
These numbers will definitely grow, as Europe is still short of approximately 500,000 IT programmers. Since salaries in Europe for this sector of activity are extremely high, chances are that these open positions will be filled within the next couple of years, especially since more and more European Union Institutions are encouraging people to come and work in this field.
TOP 10 European Countries With the Highest Number of Software Developers
| Country | Number of Software Developers |
| Germany | 901K |
| The United Kingdom | 849K |
| France | 533K |
| Russia | 412K |
| The Netherlands | 320K |
| Italy | 314K |
| Spain | 323K |
| Poland | 295K |
| Ukraine | 200K |
| Sweden | 179K |
How Many Engineers Work at Google?
Google is one of the most desired employers worldwide, as they were at the forefront of the “workspace revolution,†which meant that employees began to receive more and more benefits from their employer. Google’s model worked and it even got picked up by other tech giants such as Facebook, Apple, Microsoft and many more.
27,169 software engineers work at Google in areas such as research & development.
These numbers have been presented in the official Google employee report for the year 2020. According to all the relevant sources in IT, Google will continue to be one of the world’s top employers, given their attractive salaries and very friendly work environment.
Other Interesting Developer Statistics
At this point, we’ve gone through some of the most interesting, fascinating and specific stats regarding software developers in 2021, but there’s still so much more to read about.
This industry is constantly evolving and expanding, and these numbers will really make you rethink the way you looked at this sector up until now. Ready to dig into more spectacular software developer statistics?
Women earned only 91% of what men earned for the same software engineering jobs.
According to a 2021 study on software engineers’ salaries conducted by Zippia, women earned just 91 cents for each $1 earned by men, doing the same job.
$87,523 is the highest annual average for IT specialists in the United States, the Asian ethnicity being the best remunerated in this sector.
These numbers come in contrast with Black or African-American who have the lowest average annual salary, totalling $78,825.
73% of software engineers have a bachelor’s degree.
Only 20% of software engineers have a master’s degree, while approximately 4% have an associate degree.
With approximately 100,000 software engineers, Romania has one of the highest growths in Central and Eastern Europe in this sector.
Together with Ukraine, these countries form a strong pool of IT specialists in Europe.
Over 200,000 experts in Singapore work in software engineering.
These numbers have been published by Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower, in the country’s annual report on the ICT sector.
Over 500,000 software engineers are currently employed in Brazil.
This makes Brazil one of the largest employers in the ICT sector not just in South America, but also worldwide.
Approximately 9,000 software engineers are currently employed by Facebook.
These numbers are based on the reports conducted by LinkedIn. However, they can be much larger than publicly stated.
Over 36,000 software engineers write code for Amazon.
This retail giant is one of the ICT sector’s largest employers in the world. It’s no surprise that Jeff Bezos is one of the richest people on the planet today.
20 million developers worldwide are currently employed by Apple.
Software engineers have generated an estimate of $100 billion in revenues for Apple Inc.
Netflix operated with only 80 software engineers.
Having such a low number of software engineers for such a big company didn’t stop it from producing over 50 applications.
Approximately 45% of all software engineers learned to code less than 10 years ago.
This is yet another testament that shows how this industry will continue to exponentially grow with more and more young people showing an interest in the field of software engineering.
Conclusion
Looking at all the numbers presented in this very detailed article we have created, you can easily see that the number of software engineers in the US is at an all-time high and according to all the estimates, each year will be a new record-breaking year for this sector.
IT specialists are highly-skilled individuals that are some of the most approached people on LinkedIn for new job openings. Software engineers in the USA have no issue in finding a new job, especially since Silicon Valley is the Mecca of software development.
So, if you’re a programmer or an IT specialist, all you have to do is to decide which company you want to work for, gain a little bit of experience in the organization’s specific business, and chances are that you’ll land a job there in no time.
As opposed to many other industries, the IT sector has been going through a boom phase ever since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world, and chances are that this industry will continue to hire more and more software engineers with each passing day.
