Software Developers salary in Houston, Texas

About 20,830 Software Developers work in the Houston metro, making it one of the larger concentrations of the role in Texas. The median annual wage was $127,940 in 2024, which sits about 2% below the Texas median of $130,500 and roughly 8% below the national figure of $138,520. Houston pays well in absolute terms, but it trails both state and national benchmarks by a measurable margin.

The mean wage of $128,060 lands almost exactly at the median. That gap is unusually small. In most metros, a handful of very high earners push the average noticeably above the middle. Here they barely move it, which suggests the top of the Houston market is not as concentrated in outsized compensation as you see in, say, coastal tech hubs.

The spread from bottom to top is still wide. Developers at the 10th percentile earned $78,170, while those at the 90th earned $174,600, a difference of about $96,000 between early-career and senior roles. The jump from the 25th percentile ($97,740) to the 75th ($156,960) is also steep, roughly $59,000, so experience and specialization move the needle significantly within the metro.

Houston's wage profile reflects a market built around energy, healthcare IT, and engineering services rather than software-first companies. Those industries hire developers in volume, which explains the strong employment count, but they tend to compress the very top of the pay range compared to metros where software is the core product.