How Many Software Developers Exist in The World?
With the rise of technology, the role of software development has become crucial. According to the latest report by Evans Data Corporation, there are 26.9 million software developers. This number is expected to grow to 28.7 million in 2024.
Similarly, the 20th edition of the State of the Developer Nation Report states that there are 24.3 million software developers around the world – that´s 20% more than in 2020. The report predicts that by 2030, there will be 45 million active software developers.
But where are these developers located? What is the country that has more software developers? What are their average earnings? What are the most popular programming languages worldwide?
In this article, we´ll explore how many software developers are in the world, the industry´s expected growth, popular languages, and more.
How Many Software Developers Are There In The US?
The US is currently one of the countries with the biggest number of software developers. According to Go Remotely, the US is home to more than 4.4 million software developers.
Of this, approximately 680,000 are software engineers with specific knowledge in software engineering for designing, developing, maintaining and testing computer science evaluation purposes.
A significant number of this workforce is part of top technology companies such as Google and Amazon. Google US employs over 100,000 people, and while there is no official number, estimates suggest that around 60,000 are software engineers.
Evans Data Corporation report results also indicate that the US takes the leading position by being home to 4.3 million software developers.
But what states in the US have the most developers?
Number of Software Developers Across Different States in the U.S.
When it comes to the actual number of developers across different states in the U.S., California has the number one place with 628,000 developers. Following California is Texas, with 325,000 developers and New York, with 218,000 developers, according to data.
Top 15 US States With The Highest Number of Software Engineers
| State | Number of workers |
| California | 628,414 |
| Texas | 324,717 |
| New York | 218,041 |
| Virginia | 204,699 |
| Illinois | 186,426 |
| Florida | 181,314 |
| New Jersey | 162,977 |
| Pennsylvania | 152,900 |
| Maryland | 147,430 |
| Washington | 143,971 |
| Massachusetts | 141,755 |
| Ohio | 136,615 |
| Georgia | 129,145 |
| North Carolina | 125,937 |
| Michigan | 115,359 |
15 States With The Highest Percentage of Developers in the U.S.
The highest percentage of programmers in the US is in the Washington DC area (6.46%), followed by Virginia (4.43) and Maryland (4.41%)
| State | Percentage |
| Washington DC | 6.46% |
| Virginia | 4.43% |
| Maryland | 4.41% |
| Washington | 3.75% |
| Massachusetts | 3.64% |
| Colorado | 3.48% |
| New Jersey | 3.40% |
| New Hampshire | 3.35% |
| Delaware | 3.16% |
| California | 3.15% |
| Minnesota | 2.93% |
| Utah | 2.80% |
| Illinois | 2.74% |
| Connecticut | 2.69% |
| Georgia | 2.51% |
US States with Highest Employment Level and Concentration of Jobs
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (Results from May 2022), California is the state with the highest employment level in software developers, and Washington is the state with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients.
Top 5 States with the Highest Employment Level
| State | Employment | Employment per thousand jobs |
| California | 258,170 | 14.64 |
| Texas | 116,970 | 9.00 |
| New York | 92,040 | 10.10 |
| Washington | 91,200 | 26.78 |
| Virginia | 84,220 | 21.74 |
Top 5 States with the Highest Concentration of Jobs
| State | Employment | Employment per thousand jobs |
| Washington | 91,200 | 26.78 |
| Virginia | 84,220 | 21.74 |
| Massachusetts | 60,310 | 16.91 |
| Colorado | 40,930 | 14.80 |
| California | 258,170 | 14.64 |
How Many Software Developers Are There in Europe?
Europe has an estimated 6.1 million developers. According to StackOverflow, in 2016, Europe had approximately 4.7 million developers. In 2018, this number reached 5.5 million.
Besides the United States, Europe is widely known to have outstanding IT talent. When it comes to the number of software developers by country in this region, Germany, the UK, and France take the lead.
Germany has the highest number of developers in EEUU, with approximately 901,000 developers, followed by the UK with 849,000 and France with 533,000.
These are the top 10 countries with the highest number of developers in Europe:
| Country | Number of developers |
| Germany | 901K |
| The UK | 849K |
| France | 533K |
| Russia | 412K |
| Spain | 323K |
| The Netherlands | 320K |
| Italy | 314K |
| Poland | 295K |
| Ukraine | 200K |
| Sweden | 179K |
Number of Software Developers in Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe has become one of the most in-demand talent pools for software developers across companies looking to hire remote talent. The region has well-known technical universities recognized globally, such as the National Technical University of Ukraine and the AGH University of Science and Technology in Poland.
The countries in Eastern Europe with the best software developers are Ukraine, Poland, The Czech Republic, Romania, and Bulgaria.
| Country | Number of developers |
| Ukraine | 200K |
| Poland | 295K |
| The Czech Republic | 96K |
| Romania | 105K |
| Bulgaria | 66K |
Number of Software Developers by Country
Which country has the higher number of software engineers? With over 7 million software developers, China has become the country with the largest number of software developers. However, this wasn´t always this way.
A few years ago, the U.S. led the charts as being home to the highest number of developers. However, most of the growth of these past years took place in China and India.
The top 3 countries with the highest number of developers in 2023 are:
- China (7 million)
- India (5.8 million)
- U.S. (4.4 million)
According to Statista, the global developer population is expected to increase by 3.2 million by 2024. Much of this growth is expected to continue to occur in China, where the growth rate is between 6% to 8% during this year.
These are the number of developers across the world in other countries:
| Country | Number of developers |
| China | 7 million |
| India | 5.8 million |
| United States | 4.4 million |
| Japan | 1.2 million |
| Brazil | 500K |
| Singapore | 200K |
| Australia | 100K |
| Mexico | 100K |
| Colombia | 80K |
| Hungary | 80K |
Number of Software Developers by Programming Language
According to the latest survey by Statista, as of 2022, JavaScript and HTML/CSS were the most commonly used programming languages in the world, with more than 65% of respondents saying they used JavaScript and over 55% using HTML/CSS. Python, SQL, and TypeScript are also among the five most widely used programming languages.
| Programming language | Number of developers |
| JavaScript | 13.8 million |
| Python | 10.1 million |
| Java | 9.4 million |
| C/C++ | 7.3 million |
| C# | 6.5 million |
| PHP | 6.3 million |
| Visual development tools | 3.3 million |
| Kotlin | 2.6 million |
| Swift | 2.5 million |
| Go | 2.1 million |
Highest Paying Programming Languages
What are the best-paying programming languages? 4 Day Week analyzed more than 5K listings from a job board, and these are the results:
| Programming Language | Average Salary |
| Swift | $116,000 |
| Python | $105,000 |
| Golang | $100,000 |
| C++ | $100,000 |
| Java | $95,000 |
| Ruby | $95,000 |
| Rust | $88,000 |
| SQL | $85,000 |
Computer Programmer Gender Ratio
How many female developers are there in the world? How many males? While the IT industry is widely known to have significant male dominance, the female ratio has been increasing over the past years.
Women in tech are more visible due to the increasing availability of conferences, workshops, and festivals targeted specifically for women.
According to Zippia, 28.7% of software programmers are women, while 71.3% are men.
What’s The Average Age of Coders?
The Pulse report released its 23rd Developer Nation global survey, reaching more than 26,000 developers in 163 countries.
According to its key findings, when it comes to age, the ages between 25 and 34 are the ones with more active developers, with 34.9% being part of this group. Following is the age bracket between 18-24 with 29.5%. With seniority, there´s a drop of,f with only 19.7% of developers in the 35-44 age. The age bracket between 45-54 only has 9.11% of developers.
According to Evans Data, the median software developer age is 36. In the EMEA region, 40; In North America, 39; Latin America, 35 and in the APAC region, 34.
Other Interesting Statistics
- Emerging technologies are robotics (53%), computer vision (51.5%), mini apps (50.8%), cryptocurrencies (49.4%, and blockchain apps (47.95).
- Most software programmers are White (58.8%), followed by Asian (25.2%), Hispanic or Latino (7.2%), and Unknown (4.4%) (Zippia)
- Software developers are 74% more likely to work for private companies than public companies (Zippia)
- The global software development market size in 2021 was valued at 429.59 and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 11.7% from 2022 to 2030. (Grand View Research)
- 61% of software developers use Windows OS, and 47% use Linux. (Statista)
- For most companies, the most important criteria when hiring a developer is the willingness to learn and become a cultural fit (Apium Hub)
Choose The Best Software Engineers in The World to Work For You
With almost 27 million developers in the world, the global talent pool keeps growing. While there are well-known IT niches like Silicon Valley, with emerging regions like Eastern Europe or Asia, why hire locally?
Hiring remotely is the most efficient solution if you want to work with top-level developers with the skills your business needs. By partnering with us, we can help you hire reliable, English-speaking developers who fully adapt to your culture and requirements. Contact us, and our team of expert recruiters can tell you how our process works!
