Technology · SOC 15-1252
Designs, builds and maintains software systems.
A large share of tasks is exposed; the role will change a lot.
Timeline: Augmented now; AI writes code but architecture and judgment scale up in value.
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$103,790 median pay
$91,290 median pay
$135,980 median pay
$102,610 median pay
$103,300 median pay
$84,000 median pay
Industry pages show which sectors this occupation feeds and the AI companies driving the shift.
AI job-risk card
Software Developer is at risk on AIFear. A large share of tasks is exposed; the role will change a lot.
AIFear.com
Our AI Fear Score for Software Developer is 58/100 (At risk). A large share of tasks is exposed; the role will change a lot.
58 out of 100. It blends a Frey & Osborne automation probability of 40% with an estimated LLM task-exposure of 80%.
Most exposed: Boilerplate code, Unit tests, Simple bug fixes. Harder to automate: System design, Debugging complex production issues, Tradeoff decisions.
Lean into System design, AI-assisted dev, Domain depth. Consider roles such as Staff/principal engineer or Engineering manager.
AI Fear Score blends Frey & Osborne (2013) automation probability with an LLM task-exposure estimate (after Eloundou et al., 2023). Pay/employment are approximate BLS figures. This is an estimate, not a prediction about any individual's job. Compare all occupations.