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Software Developers pay in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA and Trenton-Princeton, NJ
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Software Developers is $213,110 per year in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA. It is $128,770 per year in Trenton-Princeton, NJ. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA is 65.5% above Trenton-Princeton, NJ 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 87,350 wage and salary jobs in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA and 3,390 in Trenton-Princeton, NJ. 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