US edition2026 federal + FICA, optional state tax
United States Technology Market Intelligence 2026
Explore what the technology market in the United States actually pays in 2026, including the highest-paying roles, the skills most in demand from employers, and which jobs are seeing the fastest salary growth.
83tech roles tracked20in-demand skills tracked$229Khighest median salary
Top salaries
Top-paying tech roles in the United States
The highest-paying technology skills and roles in the United States, ranked by median salary.
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| Skill | Median Salary | Average Salary | Salary Range | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Product, Design & IT LeadershipContractor rate | $229K | $228K | $190K-$288K | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| #2Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) Cybersecurity & GRCContractor rate | $200K | $201K | $155K-$280K | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| #3Deep Learning Scientist Artificial Intelligence & Machine LearningContractor rate | $184K | $183K | $152K-$232K | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| #4AI Product Manager Artificial IntelligenceContractor rate | $182K | $181K | $155K-$210K | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| #5AI Research Scientist Artificial Intelligence & Machine LearningContractor rate | $182K | $181K | $155K-$210K | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| #6AI Strategy & Solutions Architect Smart City & Deep Tech | $182K | $181K | $155K-$210K | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| #7Algorithmic Trading Systems Engineer Quant & FinTechContractor rate | $182K | $181K | $155K-$210K | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| #8Cloud Security Specialist Cloud & CybersecurityContractor rate | $182K | $181K | $155K-$210K | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| #9Cybersecurity Specialist / Architect Security & RiskContractor rate | $182K | $181K | $155K-$210K | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| #10Data Center Facilities Manager / Architect Smart City & Deep TechContractor rate | $182K | $181K | $155K-$210K | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| #11Enterprise Architect Software EngineeringContractor rate | $182K | $181K | $155K-$210K | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| #12MLOps Engineer Data & AnalyticsContractor rate | $182K | $181K | $155K-$210K | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| #13Principal Software Engineer Software EngineeringContractor rate | $182K | $181K | $155K-$210K | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| #14Quantitative Developer (C++ / Python) Quant & FinTech | $182K | $181K | $155K-$210K | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| #15Senior Cloud & Infrastructure Lead Cloud Infrastructure | $182K | $181K | $155K-$210K | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| #16Software Engineer Software Engineering | $182K | $181K | $155K-$210K | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| #17Web3 Security Engineer Web3 Blockchain & PaymentsContractor rate | $182K | $181K | $155K-$210K | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| #18Engineering Manager Software EngineeringContractor rate | $180K | $178K | $148K-$216K | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| #19Generative AI Specialist Artificial Intelligence & Machine LearningContractor rate | $179K | $179K | $144K-$232K | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| #20Cloud Architect (AWS / Azure / GCP) Cloud InfrastructureContractor rate | $174K | $171K | $133K-$210K | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
Hiring demand
Most In-Demand Tech Skills in the United States
Find out which technology skills United States employers are hiring for most, based on coverage depth and benchmark consistency.
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| Skill | Demand Index | Coverage Score | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1AI / ML Engineer Artificial Intelligence & Machine LearningContractor rate | Very High | 91/100 | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| #2Back End Developer (Java / Go / Node.js) Software Engineering & IT LeadershipContractor rate | Low | 54/100 | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| #3Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) Cybersecurity & GRCContractor rate | Low | 54/100 | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| #4Cloud Architect (AWS / Azure / GCP) Cloud InfrastructureContractor rate | Low | 54/100 | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| #5Data Architect Data & AnalyticsContractor rate | Low | 54/100 | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| #6Data Engineer (Databricks/Snowflake) Data Science, Analytics & EngineeringContractor rate | Low | 54/100 | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| #7Data Scientist Data & AnalyticsContractor rate | Low | 54/100 | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| #8Database Administrator (Oracle / PostgreSQL / NoSQL) Cloud InfrastructureContractor rate | Low | 54/100 | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| #9DevOps Engineer Infrastructure & CloudContractor rate | Low | 54/100 | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| #10Engineering Manager Software EngineeringContractor rate | Low | 54/100 | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| #11Full Stack Engineer (React / Next.Js / TypeScript) Software EngineeringContractor rate | Low | 54/100 | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| #12Mobile Developer Software EngineeringContractor rate | Low | 54/100 | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| #13Penetration Tester / Ethical Hacker Cybersecurity & RiskContractor rate | Low | 54/100 | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| #14Platform Engineer Infrastructure & CloudContractor rate | Low | 54/100 | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| #15Site Reliability Engineer (SRE) Software Engineering & DevelopmentContractor rate | Low | 54/100 | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| #16Solutions Architect Software EngineeringContractor rate | Low | 54/100 | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| #17Technical Product Manager (TPM) Product, Design & DeliveryContractor rate | Low | 54/100 | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| #18UI/UX Designer Design & IT LeadershipContractor rate | Low | 54/100 | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| #19AI Infrastructure Engineer Artificial Intelligence & Machine LearningContractor rate | Low | 36/100 | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| #20Analytics Engineer Data & AnalyticsContractor rate | Low | 36/100 | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
Salary growth trends
Fastest Growing Tech Jobs in the United States
Which United States tech roles have seen the biggest pay rises, based on matched year-on-year salary comparisons.
Year-on-year growth data is still building for this market
Matched two-year comparisons need a full prior-year benchmark cycle. Check back as more data is published.
Salary Distribution
Under $70K0 roles
$70K-$90K0 roles
$90K-$110K0 roles
$110K+20 roles
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Market insights
Tech Pay Trends in the United States: What the Data Shows
Data-driven insights on where United States's technology pay is heading, which disciplines are moving, and what the benchmarks signal for hiring in 2026.
Cybersecurity
Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) is one of the clearest signals in this cluster, with low demand and a $200K median benchmark.
Signal
High ConfidenceModerate coverage
Cloud & Infrastructure
Cloud Architect (AWS / Azure / GCP) is one of the clearest signals in this cluster, with low demand and a $174K median benchmark.
Signal
High ConfidenceModerate coverage
Data & AI
AI / ML Engineer is one of the clearest signals in this cluster, with very high demand and a $167K median benchmark.
Signal
High ConfidenceBroad coverage
Software Engineering
Back End Developer (Java / Go / Node.js) is one of the clearest signals in this cluster, with low demand and a $141K median benchmark.
Signal
High ConfidenceModerate coverage
Product & Design
Technical Product Manager (TPM) is one of the clearest signals in this cluster, with low demand and a $162K median benchmark.
Signal
High ConfidenceModerate coverage
Reports
Deep-Dive Reports: United States Salary & Market Data
Explore individual reports on the highest-paid tech skills, the most in-demand roles, and the fastest-growing jobs in the United States.
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