Hiring a software engineer in the US? Across 4,000 live software engineer postings in the US, the market pays a $195K median salary (typically $165K–$227K). Recruiting from Scratch is the contingency technical recruiting firm for these hires — a 29-day average time to hire, 300+ placements, and a 2M+ candidate network.
A software engineer designs, builds, tests, and ships software across the stack as part of a product team. Hiring one in the US means competing with the companies below.
What employers actually screen for, aggregated across 4,000 active software engineer postings in the US:
A sample of the companies with live software engineers openings in the US:
| Company | Actively hiring |
|---|---|
| Apple | software engineers in the US |
| software engineers in the US | |
| Anduril Industries | software engineers in the US |
| Cadence Design | software engineers in the US |
| Klarity | software engineers in the US |
| Nvidia Ai | software engineers in the US |
| Databricks | software engineers in the US |
| Blue Origin | software engineers in the US |
| Microsoft | software engineers in the US |
| JPMorganChase | software engineers in the US |
| Cisco | software engineers in the US |
| eBay | software engineers in the US |
Recruiting from Scratch is a contingency technical recruiting firm — no retainer and no upfront cost, so you pay only when you make a hire. The process: align on the role and must-haves → a curated shortlist of 3–5 genuinely qualified software engineers (not resume volume) → a 29-day average time to hire versus the 49-day industry average → a 90-day replacement guarantee. Backed by 300+ placements, a 2M+ candidate network, and named hires at companies like Decagon and Mercor.
A software engineer designs, builds, tests, and ships software across the stack as part of a product team.
What salary does a software engineer in the US command in 2026?Across 4,000 live postings in the US, a $195K median salary (typically $165K–$227K) — base only; equity is typically on top. Most postings expect 5+ years of experience.
What should you look for when hiring a software engineer?Depth in the skills these postings require (Python, Java, AWS, React, TypeScript, Go, CI/CD, Kubernetes), plus solid engineering fundamentals, clean code, and the ability to own features from design to production. Recruiting from Scratch sends a shortlist of 3–5 genuinely qualified candidates, not resume volume.
How does Recruiting from Scratch hire software engineers?On a contingency model — no retainer, no upfront cost, pay only on a hire — with a 29-day average time to hire (industry average 49 days), a 90-day replacement guarantee, and named hires at companies like Decagon and Mercor.
Recruiting from Scratch also publishes salary benchmarks and recruiting-firm rankings for software engineers.
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