2023 Developer Salary Rankings: Top 10 Programming Languages and Their Average Pay

From November 1 2022 to November 1 2023, DevJobsScanner analyzed more than 10 million developer job opportunities worldwide, focusing on positions in the United States, to understand market trends and the most popular, highest‑paying programming languages.

Out of the 10 million postings, 1.3 million included salary information; among those, 230 000 were for programming‑language roles, and roughly 86 000 of those were U.S. positions.

10 – Java

Java ranks tenth. Most Java jobs require extensive experience, and frameworks such as Spring are associated with high‑pay positions. The average annual salary for Java developers is about $118 k.

Average salary: ~ $118k

Median salary: $117k

Number of paid jobs found: 23 K

9 – Python

Python is one of today’s most popular languages and ranks ninth in high‑pay positions. It is a dynamically‑typed high‑level language used for everything from scripting to full‑stack web development with Django, and is heavily employed in data science.

The survey shows an average Python developer salary of $125 k per year, with some positions reaching $500 k.

Average salary: ~ $125k

Median salary: $120k

Number of paid jobs found: 14 K

8 – Swift

Swift, created by Apple, is a modern general‑purpose language most commonly used for iOS and macOS application development. The average annual salary for Swift developers is $127 k.

Average salary: ~ $127k

Median salary: $125k

Number of paid jobs found: 174

7 – Go

Go was introduced by Google in 2007 and remains popular due to its simplicity and speed. Influenced by C, Go adds memory safety, garbage collection, and structural typing improvements.

Average salary: ~ $130k

Median salary: $128k

Number of paid jobs found: 1.2 K

6 – PHP

PHP has been popular for many years, especially for web development with frameworks like Laravel. Its versatility makes it a solid choice for rapid application development.

PHP developers’ median salary ($136 k) exceeds the average ($132 k), indicating strong demand for mid‑ and senior‑level PHP expertise.

Average salary: ~ $132k

Median salary: $136k

Number of paid jobs found: 3.4 K

5 – Scala

Scala combines object‑oriented and functional programming, compiles to Java bytecode, and runs on the JVM. It addresses several perceived shortcomings of Java and enjoys a vibrant community and rich ecosystem.

Average annual salary for Scala developers is $135 k, with top positions reaching around $400 k.

Average salary: ~ $135k

Median salary: $130k

Number of paid jobs found: 533

4 – C/C++

C/C++ holds the fourth spot, with an average salary of $136 k. These languages are widely used in video games, servers, databases, space probes, and also form the basis of many blockchain implementations.

Average salary: ~ $136k

Median salary: $125k

Number of paid jobs found: 3 K

3 – ABAP

ABAP remains a valuable language in the 2023 enterprise resource planning (ERP) ecosystem. Developed by SAP, it is used to build and customize applications on the SAP platform.

Average salary: ~ $137k

Median salary: $134k

Number of paid jobs found: 134

2 – Rust

Rust’s average salary is $156 k, and its popularity and compensation are steadily rising. Similar to C++ but with memory safety and safe concurrency, Rust is favored for high‑performance applications and is gaining traction in Web3/blockchain projects such as Solana.

Average salary: ~ $156k

Median salary: $150k

Number of paid jobs found: 197

1 – Solidity

Solidity tops the 2023 salary ranking with an average salary of $188 k. As the primary language for writing smart contracts on Ethereum and many other blockchains, its scarcity of talent drives salaries upward.

Average salary: ~ $188k

Median salary: $180k

Number of paid jobs found: 136