Short answer: The median US software developer earns $135,980 a year in base wages (BLS, May 2025). Add benefits using BLS's employer-cost data and the median employer cost is about $198,511 a year, or roughly $16,500 a month, before recruiting, equipment and management time. The middle half of developers costs about $153,600 to $251,100 fully loaded.
This guide shows where those numbers come from, what they leave out, and how the main ways to hire (in-house, freelance, agency, staff augmentation) and hiring in Latin America change the total. Every figure has a source and a measure, and all were checked on October 2, 2026.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey is the broadest US source. It surveys employers, covers 1,687,890 people in the Software Developers occupation (SOC 15-1252), and reports base wages only: no bonuses, equity or benefits.
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025, Software Developers; fully loaded column derived using the BLS ECEC wage share (June 2026). The median hourly wage is $65.38. In the New York metro area, the mean annual wage is $165,870.
Other sources run higher because they measure more. Levels.fyi's self-reported 2026 data, which includes equity and bonus and leans toward large tech companies, puts the median US software engineer at $196,000 in total compensation (n=51,141), and the median senior engineer at $252,000 (n=23,350). Stack Overflow's 2025 survey reports a US median of $175,000 for back-end developers and $138,000 for full-stack developers, in total compensation. Use BLS for a market-wide base wage and Levels.fyi for what senior engineers at tech companies actually take home.
Salary is only part of what an employer pays. BLS's Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC) release for June 2026 breaks down the cost per hour worked for private-industry management, professional and related workers:
Because wages are 68.5% of total compensation, you can estimate fully loaded cost by dividing a wage by 0.685. The arithmetic for the median software developer:
The method has limits. It applies an occupational-group average to one occupation, and it counts only compensation. It leaves out recruiting, equipment, software licenses, office space, training and the management time every hire needs.
Our data has no reliable public figure for recruiting cost per software hire, so we describe it rather than price it. The main pieces:
The engagement model changes what you pay for and who carries the risk. For a deeper look at the first trade-off, see freelancers vs staff augmentation.
Some providers publish rates. These are their figures, not ours, and we have not verified them. Arc's 2026 guide, from a survey of 5,302 freelancers, puts typical hourly rates at $82 to $130 in the US and Canada and $35 to $75 in Latin America, with senior US freelancers at $95 to $150. Revelo publishes all-in monthly costs for Latin American back-end engineers of $5,800 to $7,500 mid-level and $7,200 to $10,700 senior, including its margin.
On the same measure (Levels.fyi, self-reported total compensation, 2026), senior software engineers in the five largest Latin American markets report medians of $44,593 to $63,324 a year, against $252,000 in the US.
Two cautions. These are pay figures, not the cost of hiring, and the BLS benefit ratio above is a US measure that does not apply to Latin American employers. And Chile's senior sample (26) is small. Our full breakdown by country and level is in software developer salaries in Latin America. Time zone matters too: most Latin American tech hubs share most of the US working day, so code review and questions get answered the same day.
Ryz typically charges $7,000 to $15,000 per engineer per month, mostly for mid-level to senior people:
For the benchmark behind those bands, Levels.fyi's October 2026 data puts Amazon L5 total compensation at $252,814 (25th percentile) to $364,115 (highest reported), and L6 at $350,000 to $523,400. A senior Ryz engineer at $10,000 to $15,000 a month is $120,000 to $180,000 a year, below the $198,511 fully loaded cost of the median US developer across all levels.
Project cost is team size × duration × monthly rate. For example, three senior engineers for six months: 3 × 6 × $10,000 = $180,000 at the bottom of the senior range, and 3 × 6 × $15,000 = $270,000 at the top. Your quote is scoped per team, and you get a plan, a price and the names of the people before you start.
What the rate covers: senior Latin American engineers, only the top 1% of the tens of thousands we have interviewed, who work on your team, reporting to your leads, on US business hours. Read how staff augmentation works, see our vetting process, or run your own numbers in the talent cost savings calculator.
When Ryz is not the right fit: if you want a self-serve freelance marketplace, short hourly gigs, or a trial before talking to anyone, use a marketplace. If you need coverage in European or Asian time zones, look at global networks.
For the median US software developer, about $16,543 a month fully loaded: the BLS median wage of $135,980 divided by BLS's 68.5% wage share, then by 12. That excludes recruiting and equipment. Ryz engineers typically cost $7,000 to $15,000 a month depending on seniority.
It is salary plus the benefits an employer pays: paid leave, insurance, retirement contributions, supplemental pay and legally required benefits. BLS's June 2026 ECEC data shows benefits at 31.5% of total compensation for professional workers, so wage ÷ 0.685 gives a fully loaded estimate.
Often per hour, not always per outcome. Arc's 2026 guide puts US and Canadian freelancers at $82 to $130 an hour. You avoid benefits, but you take on scoping, quality control and the risk that the person leaves mid-project.
Senior software engineers in Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Brazil and Chile report median pay of $44,593 to $63,324 a year (Levels.fyi, 2026). Hiring through a vendor costs more than pay alone because the rate covers sourcing, vetting and replacement. Vendor rates vary, so compare what each one includes.
Multiply team size by duration by the monthly rate per person. Three senior engineers for six months at $10,000 to $15,000 a month each comes to $180,000 to $270,000. The hard part is scoping the team, which is why Ryz quotes per team.
All figures were checked on October 2, 2026. Ryz prices are typical ranges by seniority; your quote is scoped per team.
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