How much does a Software Engineer make in Georgia?

BLS reports a median annual wage of $128,920 for Software Engineers in Georgia as of the latest OES release. That is the 50th-percentile figure — half earn more, half earn less. The 25th-percentile is $101,230 and the 75th-percentile is $158,030.

How are Georgia Software Engineer salaries calculated on this page?

Nominal wages come from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES) — annual employer surveys, May 2026 reference period. Real-wage figures use BEA Regional Price Parities (2023 vintage) to adjust for state-level cost of living. No self-report or jobs-board data is mixed in.

What does the top of the Software Engineer pay scale look like in Georgia?

The 90th percentile lands at $173,650. That tier typically reflects senior roles, specialty certifications, high-cost-of-living metros within the state, or union-negotiated rate cards. Below that, the P75 quartile is $158,030.

Why is the BEA RPP for Georgia different from a single CPI number?

BEA splits regional price parity into three components — goods, services, and rents — reweighted to the BEA's national consumption basket. Georgia's overall index of 96.5 reflects rents 88.3, services 92.3, and goods 97.7.

How wide is the wage spread in Georgia?

P10 to P90 spans $75,950 to $173,650. That spread captures entry-level to top-quartile pay, including specialty differentials and metro-area variance within the state.

Should I negotiate based on the BLS median for Georgia?

The BLS median is a calibration anchor, not a ceiling. Use it to validate that an offer is in-band — anything well below the P25 in this state is a flag, anything above the P75 typically requires demonstrable specialty depth, niche credentials, or a high-COL metro within Georgia.

When does this data update?

BLS OES releases a new May reference set roughly each spring; we re-run the ETL pipeline within two weeks of release. BEA RPP refreshes annually. The last-synced timestamp at the top of this page reflects the most recent build.

Georgia Software Engineer Salary: BLS $129K Median, Real $134K (2026)

TL;DR

$128,920 is the BLS median wage for Software Engineers in Georgia; $133,604 is the BEA-adjusted purchasing-power equivalent.
Cost adjustment is small — neither an arbitrage state nor a high-cost penalty.
Quartile range $101,230 (bottom 25%) to $158,030 (top 25%); the P10-P90 envelope is $75,950 to $173,650.
On a real-wage basis, this state sits at #9 of 51; nominal rank is #18.

Wage breakdown — Georgia

Percentile	Nominal (BLS)	Real (BEA RPP-adjusted)
P10 (entry tier)	$75,950	$78,710
P25 (lower quartile)	$101,230	$104,908
P50 (median)	$128,920	$133,604
P75 (upper quartile)	$158,030	$163,772
P90 (top tier)	$173,650	$179,959
Mean	$128,310	$132,972
Employment	47,350 Software Engineers in Georgia

Cost of living — BEA Regional Price Parity

Component	Georgia index (US = 100)
All-items RPP	96.5
Goods	97.7
Services	92.3
Rents	88.3

Georgia's overall RPP (96.5) is close to the national 100 baseline; nominal and real wage move roughly together.

After-tax take-home — Georgia (2024 BLS · 2024 tax year, single filer)

Layer-by-layer take-home math at the BLS median

Layer	Amount	Note
Gross BLS P50 (Software Engineer)	$128,920	nominal median
Federal income tax	−$19,759	15.3% effective; std deduction $15,750 applied
State income tax	−$6,068	5.19% flat (2026)
FICA (SS 6.2% + Medicare 1.45%)	−$9,862	SS capped at $183,600 wage base
Take-home (after-tax)	$93,231	72.3% of gross
Real take-home (RPP-adjusted)	$96,618	÷ (96.5 / 100) BEA cost-of-living

What the Georgia state-tax burden means for Software Engineer take-home

Mid-band state-tax burden at 4.7% effective. Combined with federal and FICA, take-home is $93,231 (72.3% of gross). After the 96.5 RPP, real take-home is $96,618.

Computed from 2026 IRS federal brackets (Rev. Proc. 2025-32), 2026 state DOR brackets, and 2026 FICA rates. Single filer, standard deduction, no other adjustments. See methodology · tax for limitations (married filers, ITM/SALT itemizers, retirement deferrals, HSA, dependent credits, etc.).

National context

Across the United States, BLS reports a national median of $133,080 for Software Engineers with mean pay of $144,570 and total employment of 1,654,440. Georgia sits at #18 on nominal pay and #9 on real (cost-adjusted) pay among the 51 states and DC. After cost adjustment, Georgia climbs 9 positions — the cost of living is favorable relative to the wage.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a Software Engineer make in Georgia?: BLS reports a median annual wage of $128,920 for Software Engineers in Georgia as of the latest OES release. That is the 50th-percentile figure — half earn more, half earn less. The 25th-percentile is $101,230 and the 75th-percentile is $158,030.
How are Georgia Software Engineer salaries calculated on this page?: Nominal wages come from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES) — annual employer surveys, May 2026 reference period. Real-wage figures use BEA Regional Price Parities (2023 vintage) to adjust for state-level cost of living. No self-report or jobs-board data is mixed in.
What does the top of the Software Engineer pay scale look like in Georgia?: The 90th percentile lands at $173,650. That tier typically reflects senior roles, specialty certifications, high-cost-of-living metros within the state, or union-negotiated rate cards. Below that, the P75 quartile is $158,030.
Why is the BEA RPP for Georgia different from a single CPI number?: BEA splits regional price parity into three components — goods, services, and rents — reweighted to the BEA's national consumption basket. Georgia's overall index of 96.5 reflects rents 88.3, services 92.3, and goods 97.7.
How wide is the wage spread in Georgia?: P10 to P90 spans $75,950 to $173,650. That spread captures entry-level to top-quartile pay, including specialty differentials and metro-area variance within the state.
Should I negotiate based on the BLS median for Georgia?: The BLS median is a calibration anchor, not a ceiling. Use it to validate that an offer is in-band — anything well below the P25 in this state is a flag, anything above the P75 typically requires demonstrable specialty depth, niche credentials, or a high-COL metro within Georgia.
When does this data update?: BLS OES releases a new May reference set roughly each spring; we re-run the ETL pipeline within two weeks of release. BEA RPP refreshes annually. The last-synced timestamp at the top of this page reflects the most recent build.

Sources & methodology

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES), SOC 15-1252, 2024 reference period.
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — Regional Price Parities, 2023 vintage (all-items, goods, services, rents).
Real-wage figures = nominal BLS wage ÷ (state RPP / 100).
See the methodology page for full computation details and limitations.

By Marcus Liang · Founder & Editor · Last synced 2026-05-05.

Cross-comparison: see how Georgia Software Engineer pay ranks against the other 254 state × occupation pages on the Real Wage Atlas → — four-way ranking by real wage, after-tax take-home, state-tax savings, and cost-of-living arbitrage.