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Software Developers pay in California and West Virginia
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Software Developers is $174,410 per year in California. It is $121,000 per year in West Virginia. California is 44.1% above West Virginia on the published median.
Both rows use SOC 15-1252 and the same annual wage metric. Median means the middle of each area's published wage spread. It is not one worker's pay. The larger median is not proof that one place gives a better job or a better result. It is one wage fact from one source period.
BLS lists 284,390 wage and salary jobs in California and 2,650 in West Virginia. Those are survey job counts, not open posts. Read pay, job scale, local share, and price level as separate facts before you make a choice.
Evidence: bls-oews-may-2025 · Rule: same-soc-same-metric-pair · nominal-median-gap · employment-not-openings