Software Developer Salary

Yes — at the median salary of $106K, rent takes 15.4% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,034/month. That stays under the 30% guideline most financial planners use.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new software developers typically earn — is $63K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $4,279/month. At HUD’s $1,034/month FMR, rent would take 24% of that take-home — manageable on an entry-level income.

Local pay runs 22% below the national median — $106K here vs. $136K nationally. Cost of living is 11% below the national average, which narrows that gap in real purchasing power.

North Dakota pays $106K median vs. the U.S. average of $136K — that’s -22%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 88.89), the purchasing-power equivalent is $119K — below the national median.

The median is $105,600 a year, that works out to about $51 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $62,900, and experienced software developers can clear $158,060. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $6,718/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,034/month, which eats 15.4% of your paycheck. That's under the 30% guideline most financial planners use, so the numbers work.

North Dakota has a Regional Price Parity of 88.89 (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 $118,799 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.