Software Engineer Salary in Colorado and How to Increase It

By | July 18, 2023
Software Engineer Salary in Colorado
Software Engineers in Colorado stand to earn high salaries, however, they also have to consider the high cost of living in the State.

The salary of a software engineer in Colorado is as much as $121,215 yearly.

This post provides exhaustive information on how much salaries software engineers earn in the State of Colorado and what you can do to increase it; including the highest paying cities and companies you can work with as a software engineer in Colorado and the salaries they pay.   

Please, read on:

Colorado is one of the Rocky Mountain States and the most dominant for paying software engineers high salaries.

It is in a very competitive state with the Northeast States, with the highest salaries across the US.

Software engineers in Colorado get as much as $121,215 yearly and gross additional benefits between $90,000 and $99,578 annually.

Even with its high cost of living, the State of Colorado continues to attract software engineers to its cities.

Software Engineer Salary across Cities in the State of Colorado

The State of Colorado is ranked 9th as par annual salary paid to software engineers and 37th in the whole of the US.

It sits amongst the top ten States paying software engineers $100k plus.

It is making very giant strides in attracting software engineers to its towns and cities, with engineers in Denver and Boulder earning as much as $121,215 and $108,258 respectively yearly.

Highest Paying Cities for Software Engineers in Colorado State

Like all cities across the world, the State of Colorado has its own fair share of a handful of cities where professionals flock to make ends meet.

Listed below are some of the major cities in Colorado along with the yearly salaries software engineers make:

CityYearly Salary ($)
Centennial114,030
Greenwood Village111,488
Colorado Springs103,751
Littleton102,591
Lafayette101,743
Englewood100,563
Highlands Ranch97,761
Denver97,755
Westminster97,125
Fort Collins96,786
Cities that pay highest salaries in Colorado

Software Engineer Salary Based on Skill in Colorado State

Acquiring soft skills and a good education can greatly help in advancing a software engineer’s salary in the job market in Colorado, and as such the software engineer gets a shift in pay and an upward movement in career advancement.

Below are some of the much sought-after skills that will help propel a software engineer higher with increase in pay in the State of Colorado:

  • Scala: +24.30%, which amounts to $29,455 added on to the salary yearly.
  • OS Kernels:  +17.55, which is $21,273 of yearly added on to salary.
  • Big Data: +17.35, amounting to $21,030 to yearly salary.
  • Microservices: +16.13%, earning $19,551 to yearly salary.
  • Machine Learning: +11.71%, grossing $14,194 as yearly added on.
  • Data Structures: +10.99%, takes $13,321 as added salary yearly.

Software Engineer Salary Based on Experience in Colorado State

Experience matters in all professions and it goes to show in the area of salary and career advancement; the software engineering career not an exception.

Salaries are paid by years of experience; here is how the software engineer salary is basically structured in Colorado:

  • Less than 1 year, earns $94,457.
  • 1 – 2 years, takes home $97,045 as yearly salary.
  • 3 – 5 years, earns annually $90,000.
  • 6 – 9 years, earns $111,000 annually.
  • 10 years and above, earns $127,168 as take home yearly.

10 Highest Paying Companies for Software Engineer in Colorado State

Much as the State of Colorado is attracting software engineers despite her high cost of living, certain companies attract and pay more for getting jobs within their ranks than others.

The table below shows the 10 highest paying companies for software engineers in Colorado:

CompanySalary Yearly ($)
Apple170,498
Facebook157,775
Workday151,362
Juniper Networks143,130
Dropbox141,914
Paypal140,107
Cisco139,440
Nvidia137,207
Oracle134,791
Nokia134,618
Companies that pay highest salaries in Colorado

More Benefits for Software Engineers in the State of Colorado

Aside paying high salaries to software engineers, Colorado also has a high annual benefit for software engineers that average $114,785 yearly.

Software engineers in Colorado get $9,177 as additional benefits, making software engineers in the State to rank high on the salary scale nationally.

Here is a list of more benefits that software engineers can enjoy in the State of Colorado:

  • Stock benefits: These are translated to cash either at the end of the year, semi-yearly, or quarterly, depending on how the company makes its profit turnaround. It’s normally compounded forward with the beneficiary getting the stocks after retirement.
  • Vision Insurance: Starring at the computer for long hours can have an effect upon the eyes. The software engineer is helped by companies in Colorado in vision Insurance to provide for eye sight care in the form of eye glasses or contact lens.
  • Relocation Allowance: Everyone knows the hassle involved in relocating, more so if kids are involved, schools and living quarters. In Colorado, the engineer is helped with funding for relocation, anytime it arises.
  • Food Provision Assistance: The software engineer has little or no time for breaks, since they more often than not work long hours and sometimes don’t go on breaks, mostly if the project is in its final state. The provision of food assistance comes as an added benefit and engineers get paid for it.
  • Visa Sponsorship: Most software engineers can be called upon to work remotely in another country and the parent company in Colorado provides the much needed assistance in getting and sponsoring the Visa for the engineer that needs it.

What Related Job Titles to Software Engineer Earn in Colorado State

  • Back End Developer earns $112,867 as salary yearly.
  • Full Stack Developer earns $111,023 yearly salary.
  • Front End Developer takes home $108,338 yearly as salary.
  • Software Developer earns $100,546 yearly pay.
  • Developer earns annually $89,094.
  • Application Developer takes home $87,277 yearly salary.

Software Engineer Job and Salary Outlook in Colorado State

Colorado is rapidly moving and contesting with the Northeast States, and with time it will move up from sitting at number 9 to the 7th or even 5th position due to the giant strides been made in the State towards attracting more companies.

Denver, Boulder, Lafayette are all cities making concise efforts to attract more software engineers, with salaries getting as high as 100k annually, it’s 6% lower than the National average.

How to Increase Your Salary as a Software Engineer in Colorado State

Software engineers work for pay like all professionals do, but some get paid much more higher than others and are more comfortable with their jobs.

Looking for a way to increase your salary as software engineer in Colorado but don’t know how?

Listed below are some of the methods you can apply to help you climb the ladder:

  • Get a professional degree: Having a good degree related to your software engineering career can go a long way in boosting your salary in Colorado.
  • Watch the software engineering market trend: Make sure you watch closely the market and get to know what is trending concerning the software engineering career in Colorado. You don’t want to be outdated while others have moved up.
  • Get the much required skill: As a software engineer, getting a good set of skills will stand you out in Colorado.
  • Relocate to where the big companies are located: If you need the big pay as software engineer in Colorado, then you can think of moving to the big cities that pay the highest salaries, like Centennial, Greenwood Village, Colorado Springs, Littleton, and Lafayette.
  • Network with other professionals: Most times, job openings are not advertised and having a network of similar like minds in the software engineering industry in Colorado can help you land a big paying job.

More Career Opportunities for Software Engineers in Colorado State

Software engineers have career opportunities in various fields and most make use of such opportunities to further advance their career and salary.

Below are some of the similar careers to software engineering and how much they take home as pay yearly.

With salary in Colorado as high as $121,215 yearly, the software engineer earns less than the photonic engineer, but more than the information security analyst.

Here is a list of related careers that software engineers can consider getting into in Colorado, and their salaries:

  • Photonics engineer takes home salary of $111,000 yearly.
  • Nano systems engineers take home $111,000 yearly.
  • Robotics engineer earns $111,000 yearly.
  • Wind energy engineer earns $111,000 as salary yearly.
  • Mining and geology engineers earn $99,000 yearly.
  • Product safety engineers earn $99,000 yearly.

Conclusion

The software engineer in Colorado has a 63% satisfaction working ratio, despite the high cost of living in the state.

Due to the upward swing of development in the State, the software engineer job is on the increase and more companies are coming to the State to invest.

With yearly salary running as high as $100k, and cost of living not coming cheap either, the software engineer in Colorado still has a lot of opportunities to move up.

With it sitting on the 37th position of all States for software engineers and amongst the top 10 high paying States, other factors come in play to make the job relieving.

Information sources: ziprecruiter.com, payscale.com, careerexplorer.com, salaryexpert.com, zippa.com, indeed.com, builtincolorado.com