Salaries/Software Engineer vs DevOps Engineer

Software Engineer vs DevOps Engineer Salary

Side-by-side 2026 salary comparison across entry-level, mid-level, and senior pay for Software Engineer and DevOps Engineer roles in the US.

Bottom line (mid-level, US median)

Software Engineers earn $2,000 (2% more) than DevOps Engineers on average.

Software Engineer vs DevOps Engineer by City

LocationSoftware Engineer (Mid)DevOps Engineer (Mid)Difference
New York$179K$177K+$2K
Los Angeles$161K$159K+$2K
Chicago$147K$145K+$2K
Dallas$140K$138K+$2K
Houston$139K$137K+$2K
Washington D.C.$168K$166K+$2K
Philadelphia$143K$141K+$2K
Atlanta$140K$138K+$2K

Engineering

Software Engineer

Design, build, and maintain software systems across the full stack.

See Software Engineer salaries in all cities →

Engineering

DevOps Engineer

Build and maintain CI/CD pipelines, cloud infrastructure, and deployment automation.

See DevOps Engineer salaries in all cities →
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