Software Developers Salary

Yes — at the median salary of $126K, rent takes 14.4% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,097/month. That stays under the 30% guideline most financial planners use.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new software developers typically earn — is $73K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $4,354/month. At HUD’s $1,097/month FMR, rent would take 25% of that take-home — manageable on an entry-level income.

Pay here is roughly in line with the national average — $126K locally vs. $136K nationally, a 7% difference.

Missouri pays $126K median vs. the U.S. average of $136K — that’s -7%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 88.97), the purchasing-power equivalent is $142K — still ahead of the national median.

The median is $126,120 a year, that works out to about $61 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $72,570, and experienced software developers can clear $169,340. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $7,643/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,097/month, which eats 14.4% of your paycheck. That's under the 30% guideline most financial planners use, so the numbers work.

Missouri has a Regional Price Parity of 88.97 (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 $141,756 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.