Software Developers in New York
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$115,517
after federal, FICA and New York tax
Tax takes
$50,663
30.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$107,332
New York costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in New York — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$166,180
Kept after tax
$115,517
Worth in national money
$107,332
State rank
3
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. New York pays software developers a middle wage of $166,180, ranking 3 of 50 states and sitting about 22.21% above the national middle.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in New York. It ranks 23 out of 493 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $166,180 the take-home is $115,517. But New York costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $107,332 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is lower, $163,820, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- New York's median for software developers is $166,180, about 22.21% above the national figure and 3 of 50 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Within New York, software developers ranks 23 of 493 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and New York income tax is $115,517 for software developers, from $166,180. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $107,332. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $163,820 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Software Developers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $97,430 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $166,180 |
| Top tenth earn over | $224,590 |
| This salary | $166,180 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in New York | $115,517 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $124,850 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$21,147 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $152,526 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$30,066 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 108 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $166,180 as a midpoint for New York, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $97,430 and the ninetieth is $224,590 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind New York's $115,517, worked from $166,180. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 23 of 493.
- Two cautions on $107,332, the adjusted value of that $166,180 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of New York. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 23 of 493 locally.
- The New York median of $166,180 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $97,430 to $224,590. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The New York take-home of $115,517, on $166,180 for work ranking 23 of 493 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 23 of 493 in the state.
- This $107,332 adjusted figure, worked from $166,180, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 23 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 23 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $97,430, the highest tenth $224,590, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in New York run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $107,332 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and New York's own levy, $115,517 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($97,430) and the ninetieth ($224,590) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
New York's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $107,332 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $115,517 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and New York income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.