These Are The Highest Paying Tech Jobs In 2025

The technology industry is one of the highest-paying in the U.S. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the median annual salary in the tech industry is $105,990; more than twice the median for other occupations. Yes, even with the uncertainty of whether artificial intelligence will start taking jobs, especially in the technology industry, you still stand a chance of earning more than your peers in other fields, according to BLS data. If you're seeking a well-paying career, it might be worth considering tech. 

Naturally, if you want to pursue a career in the industry, there are many specializations to choose from. You can become a software engineer, network engineer, cybersecurity analyst, machine learning engineer, web developer, technical program manager, and more. However, not all specializations have the same earning potential, especially in an industry where learning is continuous, and salaries are dictated by what employers consider most valuable at the moment. In 2025, these are the highest-paying tech jobs if a good salary is important to you.

Principal software engineers are among the best-paid tech workers in 2025. As such, it comes with a hefty set of responsibilities and requirements. Since it's a higher-level position compared to that of a software engineer, the day-to-day tasks of a principal software engineer include a wide variety of tasks and responsibilities. 

For instance, a principal software engineer can lead the development process for software products, and also take part in the entire process by designing the architecture, writing code, and debugging. As a principal software engineer, you'll also be responsible for supervising other software engineers, training and coaching your team of engineers, and collaborating with other team members, like technical project managers. 

To become one, you need at least a bachelor's degree in fields such as computer science and computer engineering, plus proficiency in multiple programming languages, such as C, C++, and Python. Additionally, since this is not an entry-level job, you certainly need a few years of experience working as a software engineer. Principal software engineers make an average annual salary of $244,500, and you may earn more or less depending on factors such as experience, skills, and employer.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a hot topic in 2025; no wonder machine learning engineers are among the highest-paid professionals in the tech industry. What does a machine learning engineer do, and what do you need to become one? Well, their range of responsibilities includes creating machine learning systems, training, testing, deploying, and continuously improving them to address weaknesses and to add new capabilities. 

Similar to principal software engineers, they also work closely with other team members, such as fellow machine learning engineers and project managers, to map out the roadmap of creating new AI systems (or improving existing ones). Deliverables for a machine learning engineer can include creating systems that power driverless vehicles, chatbots, product recommendations on sites like Amazon, or even research-based tasks like locating previously undiscovered coral reefs.

Job requirements for machine learning engineers include a bachelor's degree in a technology-related program such as computer science, data science, artificial intelligence, or machine learning. Strong mathematical skills are desired for creating algorithms; degrees in math and statistics are also accepted. Programming skills and proficiency in machine learning frameworks are also necessary to become a machine learning engineer. The average salary for a machine learning engineer is $206,000. However, demand for these engineers is high, and we've seen reports of how Meta is offering crazy offers to poach AI talent from rivals.

A software engineering manager's responsibility mainly centers around leadership. Like any other managerial role, one of the key responsibilities of an engineering manager is managing people; in this case, software engineers. An engineering manager leads a software engineering team and ensures the project stays on track by addressing any issues that may threaten development plans, such as staff shortages and software bugs.

Other responsibilities of an engineering manager include creating project plans, hiring engineers, providing training and coaching, holding both team and one-on-one meetings, as well as providing individual reviews for team members. They also coordinate with other teams and departments to ensure that the set goals (whether individual or collaborative) are achieved. Engineering managers also lead the technical aspects of the product that the team is working on, including architecture, security, and code quality.

Keeping in mind the management nature of this role, you'll need various skills beyond technical expertise. You also require leadership, communication, project management, decision-making, and problem-solving skills. Additionally, you need a bachelor's degree in an engineering-related field and several years of engineering experience. The average salary for an engineering manager is $203,000.

Staff and senior software engineer positions are also among the top-paying tech jobs. While the two roles are related, they are not the same, with the main difference being the scope of the work. Staff engineers are involved across technical departments, while senior engineers work in one or multiple teams.

Some of the responsibilities of a staff software engineer include software quality control, collaborating with other teams and departments to meet collaborative goals, leading the design and architecture of new software or additional features, managing projects, and ensuring code written by juniors meets set technical standards. Senior engineers may share similar responsibilities with staff-level engineers, but their scope is limited to a particular team. To become a senior software engineer, you may need an associate's degree in engineering-related fields at a minimum, but with several years of experience under your belt. 

However, a bachelor's degree is preferred, with a minimum of five years of experience. In addition to that, you'll require both technical and leadership skills. For a staff software engineering role, you'll need a bachelor's degree and several years of experience, which may range from 7-15 years. And most importantly, you need a few years of experience working as a senior engineer. Technical proficiency is a must, and you also need to possess the necessary soft skills, such as communication. The average annual salary for both senior and staff software engineers is $186,500.

As the name suggests, this role primarily involves working with data. A data scientist's main function is to help businesses make data-driven decisions. That's a simplistic description of this role because, before a data scientist can extract insights from data to help businesses make decisions, there's a lot that needs to be done. First, they're responsible for collecting, cleaning, and validating data. Then there's storage, creating algorithms to extract specific insights from data, analysis, and, when they have results, presenting the findings to the relevant parties.

With all these obligations in mind, a data scientist's job requires a wide variety of skills, including programming, statistics, mathematics, machine learning, and data visualization. Education-wise, you'll need a bachelor's degree in mathematics, statistics, computer science, and related fields to become a data scientist. Additionally, this role requires soft skills, so you'll need to be great at communication, analytical and critical thinking, and be curious. While the average annual salary for a data scientist is $183,000, just like other roles, you'll be paid more or less depending on your experience, skill set, and location.

We've ranked the highest-paying jobs in tech according to a compilation by Business Insider via the University of Cincinnati. The list includes a total of 18 high-paying roles, and we selected the top five based on average annual salary, from highest to lowest. The average annual salary for each job was calculated by adding the highest and lowest recorded salaries for each job covered by Business Insider, then averaging the salary range together.