# Tech Salaries in 2026: What 8,700 Job Postings Actually Pay

> Typical pay by role, level, country and work model, counted from the salaries employers stated on 13,700 open tech roles. What the numbers say, and what they can't.

- Source: https://wayjob.pro/blog/tech-salaries-2026
- Publisher: WAYjOB! (https://wayjob.pro)
- Topic: Job Market Data
- Published: 2026-10-03
- Updated: 2026-10-03

## Key takeaways

- Across 8,765 open tech roles that state a yearly salary, the middle half pays $141K to $227K.
- Machine learning, fullstack, frontend and data engineering roles pay the most; QA and marketing the least.
- The jump from mid-level to senior is the biggest step in the ladder, about $40K at both ends of the range.
- Remote roles pay about the same as office roles; where the employer is matters far more than where you sit.
- Most US postings state a salary and most European ones don't, so the European figures rest on far fewer roles.

Salary surveys ask people what they earn. This one reads what employers are offering right now. On 3 October 2026 the board held **13,705 open tech roles**, and **8,765 of them (64%) stated a yearly salary**. Every figure below comes from those postings, counted the same way our [category pages](https://wayjob.pro/jobs/development) count them.

## How we counted

- Only open roles, and only the ones that state pay. A posting that says nothing about salary is left out, never guessed.
- A range counts as its midpoint: "$150,000 to $190,000" is $170,000. An open-ended "from $150,000" counts as $150,000.
- Salaries in pounds, euros and other currencies are converted to US dollars, so every table compares like with like.
- We show the **middle half**: the range between the 25th and 75th percentile. It's what a typical role in that group pays, without the outliers at either end.

> **Read the totals as mostly US pay**
> 84% of US postings state a salary, against 18% in the UK and 15% in Europe. So the overall figures are mostly American ones, and every European figure here rests on a few hundred roles rather than thousands.

## Salaries by field

| Field | Open roles | State a salary | Typical yearly pay |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Development | 4,696 | 66% | $160K to $236K |
| Data | 1,886 | 69% | $150K to $242K |
| Product | 1,673 | 69% | $146K to $218K |
| DevOps & infrastructure | 1,329 | 63% | $144K to $228K |
| Design | 575 | 64% | $127K to $210K |
| Marketing | 1,239 | 64% | $109K to $185K |
| QA | 275 | 60% | $108K to $183K |

Data has the highest top end ($242K), pulled up by machine learning roles. QA and marketing sit about $50K below development at both ends of the range.

## Salaries by specialty

| Specialty | Open roles | Typical yearly pay |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [Machine learning](/jobs/data/ml) | 767 | $190K to $262K |
| [Fullstack](/jobs/development/fullstack) | 1,143 | $180K to $230K |
| [Frontend](/jobs/development/frontend) | 1,352 | $178K to $230K |
| [Data engineering](/jobs/data/data-engineering) | 330 | $175K to $230K |
| [Backend](/jobs/development/backend) | 3,470 | $163K to $236K |
| [Product management](/jobs/product/product-manager) | 968 | $157K to $221K |
| [Security](/jobs/devops/security) | 469 | $152K to $225K |
| [Data science](/jobs/data/data-science) | 399 | $145K to $217K |
| [DevOps](/jobs/devops/devops) | 420 | $137K to $215K |
| [Project management](/jobs/product/project-manager) | 610 | $129K to $213K |
| [Performance marketing](/jobs/marketing/performance) | 602 | $98K to $175K |

Machine learning is the clear outlier: its typical role starts where most others are already in their upper half. Frontend and fullstack have narrower ranges than backend, which spans everything from internal tooling to trading systems.

## Salaries by level

| Level | Open roles | Typical yearly pay |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [Junior](/junior-jobs) | 1,219 | $83K to $152K |
| [Mid-level](/mid-level-jobs) | 2,379 | $115K to $193K |
| [Senior](/senior-jobs) | 7,159 | $156K to $235K |
| [Lead & manager](/lead-jobs) | 2,247 | $162K to $247K |

Two things stand out. First, **more than half of all open roles are senior** (7,159 of 13,705), and only 1,219 are junior. Second, the step from mid-level to senior is worth about $40K at both ends of the range, while the step from senior to lead adds much less. For developers alone the pattern is sharper still: mid-level $125K to $200K, [senior](https://wayjob.pro/jobs/development/senior) $180K to $236K, [lead](https://wayjob.pro/jobs/development/lead) $192K to $263K.

## Salaries by country

| Where the role is | Open roles | State a salary | Typical yearly pay |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [United States](/jobs-in-united-states) | 9,278 | 84% | $150K to $231K |
| [Canada](/jobs-in-canada) | 892 | 45% | $102K to $187K |
| [United Kingdom](/jobs-in-united-kingdom) | 1,032 | 18% | $102K to $175K |
| [Europe](/jobs-in-europe) | 2,275 | 15% | $74K to $124K |

Australia is left out: only 11 of its 228 roles state a salary, too few to say anything. For a like-for-like view, here are senior developers alone:

| Senior developer roles in | Roles that state pay | Typical yearly pay |
| --- | --- | --- |
| United States | 1,645 | $192K to $245K |
| United Kingdom | 22 | $135K to $207K |
| Europe | 91 | $86K to $126K |

The US figure is solid. The UK one rests on 22 postings and should be read as a hint, not a benchmark. Most UK and European employers still leave pay out of the posting, which is exactly why asking early matters there (see below).

## Does remote pay less?

| Work model | Open roles | Typical yearly pay |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [Remote](/remote-jobs) | 3,211 | $138K to $225K |
| [Hybrid](/hybrid-jobs) | 4,591 | $133K to $226K |
| [On-site](/onsite-jobs) | 5,860 | $149K to $229K |

Not by much. The top of the range is almost the same for all three; on-site roles start $11K to $16K higher than remote and hybrid ones. Remote roles are 23% of the board, so they're not rare, but they're not the majority either. If a remote offer comes in well below these ranges, the location of the employer, not the remote setup, is the first thing to ask about.

> **Browse remote tech jobs.** Filter by where you can work from, your time zone and whether the company hires in your country. [See Remote Jobs](https://wayjob.pro/remote-jobs)

## What to do with these numbers

- **Use the range, not the midpoint.** If a role sits in the bottom quarter of its group, ask why: a smaller company, equity instead of cash, or a level below what the title suggests.
- **Ask about pay in the first conversation** when the posting doesn't state it. In the UK and Europe that's most postings, and finding out at the offer stage costs you weeks.
- **Compare like with like.** A US salary, a UK salary and a contractor rate in Europe are three different things once tax, benefits and pension are counted.
- **Check the live number for your own search.** Every category and specialty page shows its own typical salary, updated from the roles open today.

> **Find the roles that fit you.** Answer a few questions or add your CV, and see how many open roles match your field, level and stack. [Find My Matches](https://wayjob.pro/fit?next=%2F%3Ffit%3D1)

## Questions people ask

### What is the average salary for a tech job in 2026?

Across 8,765 open tech roles that stated a yearly salary on 3 October 2026, the middle half paid between $141,000 and $227,000. Most of those roles are in the United States, where 84% of postings state pay.

### Which tech roles pay the most?

Machine learning roles, at $190K to $262K for the middle half, followed by fullstack ($180K to $230K), frontend ($178K to $230K) and data engineering ($175K to $230K).

### Do remote tech jobs pay less than office jobs?

Barely. Remote roles paid $138K to $225K, hybrid $133K to $226K and on-site $149K to $229K. Where the employer is based matters much more than whether the role is remote.

### Why are European tech salaries so much lower here?

Partly because they are lower, and partly because only 15% of European postings state pay, so the figure rests on a few hundred roles. Contracts in Europe also tend to include more paid leave, pension and social cover than US ones.