Salaries / Software Developer
Office & Admin · SOC 15-1252
Software Developer salary
Software developers design, build, and maintain the applications and systems that run on computers and phones.
Illinois · 2025
Median annual (IL)
$132,110
Median hourly (IL)
$63.52
Typical range (IL)
$80,980 to $194,740
Illinois source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS 2025.
National
Median annual
$135,980
Median hourly
$65.38
Typical range
$82,460 to $214,670
National source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025. Figures are gross pay and vary by location, employer, and experience.
The pay range, visually.
Low end (about the 10th percentile), median, and high end (about the 90th percentile).
By state, at a glance
These at-a-glance figures are estimates derived from the national median and a state wage index, shown to give a rough sense of local differences. Pick any state (here or in the selector above) to look up its real figures.
Your skills are a business
Ideas we have for people in office & admin.
The same experience that earns a paycheck as a software developer can start a business. Here are real ideas from our marketplace that fit this field.
Build a CNA School Management and Compliance Platform
Offer new CNA program owners a platform for their website, online registration, student and hours tracking, and compliance documentation, the operational back office that programs like Dreambound help schools run.
Build a Payment Integration Copilot for Vibe-Coded Apps
A tool that takes a builder from 'my app needs payments' to correctly wired checkout, subscriptions, webhooks, and tax settings on the mainstream payment platforms, generating the integration code and configuration for their specific stack with the edge cases (failed payments, refunds, disputes) handled from day one.
Build a Web-Based 3D Virtual Clinical Simulation Platform for CNA and HHA
Offer CNA and Home Health Aide programs a web-based 3D simulation where students practice clinical decision-making, communication, and simulated EMR charting, with multilingual support, to raise first-time skills-exam pass rates.
Build ATS and Credentialing Software for Healthcare Staffing Agencies
Sell a vertical SaaS platform that gives travel-nurse and healthcare staffing agencies applicant tracking, license and certification verification, credentialing packets, and placement-workflow automation they would otherwise build or stitch together themselves.
You could hire software developers, not just be one.
We have a staffing calculator to price the work and a full course on how to start a staffing agency, so you can turn a field you already know into a business that puts other people to work.