Software Engineer salary in Trenton, NJ

Based on 1,348 certified H-1B filings in the Trenton-Princeton, NJ metro area, FY2025–FY2026. Includes Princeton, Pennington, Cranbury, Hamilton, East Windsor.

Also listed as: Software Developer, Software Development Engineer, SDE

Median salary$124,000
Middle 50%$107k–$152k
vs. national median−11%comparison median $139,194
Filings1,348FY2025–FY2026 · latest two fiscal years

Salary range

Box: middle 50% of filings. Whiskers: 10th–90th percentile. 99% of filings are between $84,490 and $225,000.
PercentileSalary
10th$95,500
25th$107,040
50th (median)$124,000
75th$152,000
90th$170,000

Salary by year

Median salary

$90k $115k $140k FY2020: median $100,700 (1,320 filings) FY2021: median $100,526 (1,096 filings) FY2022: median $100,000 (1,146 filings) FY2023: median $104,000 (1,152 filings) FY2024: median $106,000 (956 filings) FY2025: median $120,000 (833 filings) FY2026: median $130,603 (515 filings) FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25 FY26

Filings per year

FY2020: 1,320 filings FY20 FY2021: 1,096 filings FY21 FY2022: 1,146 filings FY22 FY2023: 1,152 filings FY23 FY2024: 956 filings FY24 FY2025: 833 filings FY25 FY2026: 515 filings FY26 1,320
Shaded: FY2025–FY2026, the years behind the figures above. Median shown for years with at least 10 filings. FY2026 covers Q1–Q3 only.
Show as table
Fiscal yearMedianP25P75Filings
FY2020$100,700$84,000$119,9741,320
FY2021$100,526$90,002$122,5551,096
FY2022$100,000$89,129$125,0001,146
FY2023$104,000$99,923$123,1331,152
FY2024$106,000$105,061$126,547956
FY2025$120,000$107,037$151,819833
FY2026$130,603$108,223$153,005515

Cost of living

Trenton's median Software Engineer salary of $124,000 is worth about $120,200 at national average prices.

Source: BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024 (U.S. = 100; Trenton = 103.2).

Compared with all workers here

All Software Developers in the Trenton, NJ area earned a median of $128,770 in May 2025 (3,390 employed). The H-1B median here is $124,000, 4% lower.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS metropolitan area estimates. BLS wages include some incentive pay; H-1B figures are base salary.

Top employers filing

Employers with at least 2 filings here. Median shown at 10+ filings.

By experience level

Wage levelMedianFilings
Entry-level · Level I $95,493 199
Mid-level · Level II $108,250 629
Senior · Level III $143,449 248
Expert · Level IV $163,772 220

Median shown when a level has at least 10 filings.

Minimum H-1B salary by level

Wage levelPrevailing wage (most common)Median offered salaryFilings
Entry-level · Level I$84,490$95,493199
Mid-level · Level II$107,037$108,250629
Senior · Level III$130,603$143,449248
Expert · Level IV$153,005$163,772220

The prevailing wage is the minimum an employer must pay for this job and area. Amounts vary by county within a metro and by wage source.