Software developers in Florida earned a median salary of $130,980 in May 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), and an average of $137,010. The middle half of the state's 87,890 developers earned between $101,970 and $164,800. Miami pays the most of any metro, and Florida charges no state income tax.
Last updated September 2026. All figures are annual, pre-tax wages from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey (May 2025 estimates) for Software Developers, occupation code 15-1252. BLS does not publish a separate software engineer occupation, so this is the closest official measure of software engineer pay. For the national picture and how the role works, read our guide to software engineer salary.
How much does a software engineer make in Florida?
A typical software engineer in Florida earns about $131,000 a year, which is the BLS median for software developers in the state. Pay ranges from under $80,050 for the lowest-paid 10% to more than $204,400 for the top 10%.
| Pay level | Florida | United States |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $80,050 | $82,460 |
| 25th percentile | $101,970 | $105,210 |
| Median | $130,980 | $135,980 |
| Average (mean) | $137,010 | $148,100 |
| 75th percentile | $164,800 | $171,980 |
| 90th percentile | $204,400 | $214,670 |
| Software developers employed | 87,890 | 1,687,890 |
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Read the percentiles as a ladder. A developer at the 25th percentile earns more than a quarter of their peers; one at the 75th percentile earns more than three quarters of them. The average sits above the median because a smaller group of very high earners pulls it up, so the median is the better guide to what most Florida developers earn before taxes.
Software engineer salary in Florida by city
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach has the highest median ($132,650) and the highest average ($144,730) of any Florida metro. The gap between the large metros is narrow, though: Tampa, Jacksonville and Orlando all land within about $3,000 of Miami at the median.
| Metro area | Software developers employed | Median salary | Average salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach | 18,900 | $132,650 | $144,730 |
| Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater | 14,230 | $130,450 | $133,630 |
| Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford | 13,440 | $129,620 | $132,350 |
| Jacksonville | 7,200 | $130,330 | $130,520 |
| Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville | 5,030 | $131,760 | $133,920 |
| North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota | 1,680 | $131,890 | $138,020 |
| Cape Coral-Fort Myers | 1,330 | $126,940 | $126,530 |
| Tallahassee | 1,320 | $121,800 | $124,470 |
| Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent | 1,000 | $108,430 | $113,770 |
| Gainesville | 580 | $122,950 | $123,800 |
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025, metropolitan statistical areas.
The four largest metros (Miami, Tampa, Orlando and Jacksonville) employ 53,770 software developers, 61% of the state total. That concentration matters more than the small salary differences between them, because larger markets offer more openings at every level.
Miami
Miami has the largest developer workforce in Florida, with 18,900 software developers, and the widest gap between median and average pay of the big metros, a sign of a strong top end. Finance is a big part of that story: the investment firm Citadel announced in 2022 that it was moving its headquarters to Miami.
Tampa Bay
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater is the second-largest market, with 14,230 developers, and its 90th percentile ($207,330) is higher than Miami's ($199,280) or Orlando's ($176,800). Defense work around MacDill Air Force Base, home to U.S. Central Command and U.S. Special Operations Command, sits alongside healthcare and financial services employers.
Orlando
Orlando employs 13,440 software developers at a median of $129,620. The region is a national center for simulation and training technology, with military simulation and training commands based at the Central Florida Research Park.
Jacksonville
Jacksonville's median ($130,330) is almost identical to its average ($130,520), which suggests a tight pay band with fewer extreme salaries. Financial technology anchors the market: the payments company FIS and Fidelity National Financial are both headquartered in the city.
Space Coast and smaller metros
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, Florida's Space Coast, pays a median of $131,760, more than Tampa or Orlando, around NASA's Kennedy Space Center and the commercial space companies that launch from Cape Canaveral. Smaller markets pay less: Pensacola's median of $108,430 is the lowest in this guide, about $24,000 below Miami.
Which Florida salary range fits your situation?
The median is not the right benchmark for everyone. Pick the band that matches where you are today:
- Changing careers into tech. Treat the 10th to 25th percentile ($80,050 to $101,970) as a conservative reference for a first developer role. It is a range to plan with, not a promise.
- Moving to Florida as an experienced developer. Compare your current pay with the Florida median of $130,980 and with the metro you are targeting, and factor in that Florida has no state income tax.
- Mid-level developer already in Florida. The 75th percentile, $164,800, is a useful target once you own features end to end and help other engineers grow.
- Aiming for the top of the market. The top 10% of Florida developers earn more than $204,400. Reaching that band usually takes seniority plus a specialization that employers struggle to hire for.
How does Florida compare with the national average?
Florida pays software developers slightly less than the country as a whole. The state median of $130,980 is $5,000 (3.7%) below the US median of $135,980, and the Florida average trails the national one by $11,090 (7.5%). The gap widens as pay rises: $2,410 at the 10th percentile, $5,000 at the median and $10,270 at the 90th percentile.
Two facts put that gap in context. First, BLS wages are pre-tax, and Florida's constitution bars a state tax on the personal income of its residents (Article VII, Section 5), so developers who live and work in Florida pay federal income tax but no state income tax on their wages. Second, Florida is a large market in its own right, with 5.2% of all software developer jobs in the United States.
What do entry-level software engineers earn in Florida?
BLS does not break software developer pay down by years of experience, so there is no official entry-level salary for Florida. The closest proxy is the lower end of the range: in May 2025, 10% of Florida developers earned less than $80,050 and 25% earned less than $101,970.
Where a new developer lands inside that band depends on four things:
- Metro. Starting offers tend to follow the medians above, so Miami, Tampa and Orlando usually pay more than smaller markets such as Pensacola or Gainesville.
- Industry. Finance, defense and large technology employers usually pay more than small agencies and early-stage startups.
- Stack and specialization. Cloud, data and AI skills are valued more than general website maintenance.
- Portfolio. Employers hiring juniors look for proof that you can ship: deployed projects, readable code on GitHub and clear explanations of your technical decisions.
For a deeper look at what shapes starting pay across the country, see our guide to junior software engineer salary.
Which skills raise a software engineer's pay in Florida?
The biggest jump in Florida pay sits between the median ($130,980) and the top 10% (above $204,400). Developers who climb that gap usually combine seniority with skills that are hard to hire for:
- AI and machine learning engineering. Building applications on large language models, retrieval systems and AI agents is a specialization employers are actively hiring for. See how it pays in our breakdown of AI engineer salary ranges.
- Cloud and DevOps. Designing, deploying and running systems on AWS, Azure or Google Cloud, with infrastructure as code and automated delivery pipelines.
- Security. Secure coding and security engineering, plus clearance-eligible work for the defense and aerospace employers on the Space Coast, in Orlando and around Tampa.
- Domain knowledge. Finance, payments and healthcare systems in Miami, Jacksonville and Tampa reward developers who understand the business rules behind the code.
- Ownership and leadership. Moving from closing tickets to owning architecture, reviewing code and mentoring is what turns a mid-level salary into a senior one.
Your next step
Software developer salaries are strong across every major Florida metro, and the field stays open to people who start from zero. If you are building that path, compare each 4Geeks coding bootcamp and AI program side by side, from Full Stack Development to AI Engineering, and choose the one that fits your schedule and goals.