Software Developer Salary

Yes — at the median salary of $109K, rent takes 16.5% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,110/month. That stays under the 30% guideline most financial planners use.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new software developers typically earn — is $76K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $4,918/month. At HUD’s $1,110/month FMR, rent would take 23% of that take-home — manageable on an entry-level income.

Local pay runs 20% below the national median — $109K here vs. $136K nationally. Cost of living is 10% below the national average, which narrows that gap in real purchasing power.

Kentucky pays $109K median vs. the U.S. average of $136K — that’s -20%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 90.23), the purchasing-power equivalent is $121K — below the national median.

The median is $109,010 a year, that works out to about $52 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $76,310, and experienced software developers can clear $168,110. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $6,726/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,110/month, which eats 16.5% of your paycheck. That's under the 30% guideline most financial planners use, so the numbers work.

Kentucky has a Regional Price Parity of 90.23 (100 is the national average). That's below average, your money stretches further here than the raw salary number suggests. After cost-of-living adjustment, the median software developers salary is worth about $120,813 in national-average purchasing power.

The table above ranks every state by median pay for this role. Keep in mind that the highest-paying states tend to have the highest costs of living, so the top salary doesn't always mean the most money in your pocket.