TLDR
Software Engineer Salary at Non-Tech Companies — imagine landing a role where your code powers a bank, retailer, or healthcare system, yet the pay and perks rival Big Tech without the stock-option lottery.
Many engineers miss these high-value opportunities because they search for “tech companies” only, overlook transferable impact, or fail to negotiate role-aligned compensation.
This intro will show a simple three-step approach: spot non-tech companies hiring engineers, map their total-comp packages to market benchmarks, and pitch upgrades using evidence (projects, metrics, peer comps).
Follow these steps and you’ll convert overlooked roles into top-tier offers—often with better stability and clearer career paths.
What Non-Tech Actually Pays, On Average
Two numbers drive most of the confusion around software engineer pay, and they measure different things entirely.
The BLS puts the median software developer wage at $133,080 a year as of its most recent Occupational Outlook Handbook release, with the bottom 10 percent earning under $79,850 and the top 10 percent clearing $211,450.
This figure covers every industry that hires developers, including banks, insurance carriers, retail chains, and regulated industries like healthcare and government contracting. It is base salary only, no stock, no bonus baked in.
Levels.fyi, on the other hand, reports a median total compensation of roughly $192,000, but that number skews heavily toward engineers who work at large public tech companies where equity grants are common and self-reporting is more popular.
If you want the full national picture including tech hubs, our software engineer salary in the United States breakdown covers that comparison in more depth.
For someone comparing offers between a fintech startup and an insurance company, the honest answer is that the BLS number is closer to what most non-tech employers actually pay in cash, while total compensation packages at equity-heavy companies can pull the average up without changing what a typical bank or retailer offers.
Banking Software Engineer Salary
Banks have become some of the more competitive non-tech employers for engineering talent, mostly because they compete directly with fintech and quant firms for the same candidate pool.
At JPMorgan Chase, Levels.fyi reports a median total compensation of about $148,000 to $152,000 for the software engineer role, with a range running from roughly $106,000 at entry levels to well over $600,000 for the most senior technical tracks, though that top end is rare and tied to specialized quant or infrastructure roles.
Wells Fargo software engineers see a narrower band. Levels.fyi puts the median total comp around $130,000 to $133,000, with base pay typically landing between $121,000 and $189,000 depending on level.
Glassdoor’s larger sample size, based on nearly a thousand submitted Wells Fargo salaries, shows an average base closer to $149,000, which suggests the true middle of the market sits somewhere between these two data sets.
U.S. Bank reports similar territory, with a median base near $131,000 and a typical range of $120,000 to $190,000.
What stands out across banking software engineer salary data is how consistent the numbers are compared to tech company pay, which tends to have far wider spread between levels.
Retail Software Engineer Salary
Retail is where the assumption that non-tech pays less breaks down the fastest. Large retailers have built internal technology divisions that function almost like standalone tech companies, and they pay accordingly.
Walmart Global Tech is the clearest example. Levels.fyi shows a median total compensation around $210,000 to $242,000 for the software engineer role nationally, with a range stretching from about $120,000 at entry levels to over $500,000 for senior principal engineers.
That is a genuinely competitive package, on par with mid-tier tech companies, and it reflects how seriously Walmart has invested in its in-house IT teams to compete on e-commerce and logistics technology.
Location still matters here. Walmart engineers in the Greater Dallas area report a median total comp near $197,000, while those in the New York City area see closer to $205,000, so geography shifts the number even within the same employer.
Interns are part of this picture too. Software engineer interns at Walmart earn around $52 an hour, which puts them ahead of many mid-size tech company internship programs.
Healthcare Software Engineer Salary
Healthcare software engineer salary tends to run lower than banking or retail, and the gap is worth understanding rather than assuming it away.
UnitedHealth Group, one of the largest healthcare employers of software engineers through its Optum Technology division, reports a median total compensation around $113,000 to $125,000 according to Levels.fyi, with entry-level pay closer to $98,000 and senior levels climbing to roughly $205,000 to $239,000.
Glassdoor’s broader sample of nearly 300 salaries shows an average closer to $150,000, though that figure blends more senior and specialized roles into the average.
Part of the gap comes down to how regulated industries like healthcare structure compensation. Heavier compliance requirements, slower release cycles, and less reliance on stock-based incentives all shape a pay structure that leans more on base salary and less on upside.
If you are weighing a healthcare offer against a role in banking or retail, that difference in structure matters as much as the headline number.
Industry Pay Comparison at a Glance
Here is how the three industries stack up against the national baseline, using the same base, median, and senior-level breakdown across the board.
| Industry / Employer | Entry-Level Base | Median Total Comp | Senior / Top-End |
| National baseline (BLS, all industries) | $79,850 (10th pct) | $133,080 (median) | $211,450 (90th pct) |
| Banking (JPMorgan Chase) | $106,000 | $148,000–$152,000 | $600,000+ (rare, specialized) |
| Banking (Wells Fargo / U.S. Bank) | $120,000–$121,000 | $130,000–$133,000 | $189,000–$190,000 |
| Retail (Walmart Global Tech) | $120,000 | $210,000–$242,000 | $500,000+ |
| Healthcare (UnitedHealth Group) | $97,700 | $113,000–$125,000 | $205,000–$239,000 |
Total Compensation vs Base Salary, and Why It Trips People Up
I have seen engineers compare two offers by base salary alone and miss a real gap in total value.
Say you get an offer at $130,000 base from a bank, and another at $125,000 base from a retail tech division that also includes an annual bonus target of 12 percent and a modest RSU grant.
On paper the bank looks better. In practice, the retail offer’s total compensation package could land higher once bonus and equity are counted.
This is where enterprise software roles at non-tech companies differ most from Big Tech. Equity is smaller or absent, bonuses vary more by division and performance cycle, and benefits and bonuses often carry more actual weight in the total package than they would at a company handing out large RSU grants.
For a full breakdown of what typically comes packaged with these offers, our guide on software engineer benefits and perks walks through healthcare coverage, retirement matching, and other components that rarely show up in the base number.
What Moves the Needle on Non-Tech Pay
A few factors consistently separate a strong non-tech offer from an average one.
Industry-specific pay matters more than people expect. Insurance and banking tend to pay closer to tech-adjacent rates because they compete for the same skill sets as fintech.
Retail pay depends heavily on whether you are joining a traditional store IT function or a company’s dedicated technology arm. Healthcare tends to trail both unless you land at a large system actively building out software capability.
Specialization changes the number too. Engineers with cloud, security, or data platform skills consistently out-earn generalists inside regulated industries, because those skills are harder to hire for internally.
If you are choosing between a pure engineering track and a role closer to product strategy, our comparison of software engineer vs product manager pay is worth reading before you commit to a lane.
Role adjacency matters as well. Some engineers at non-tech companies end up doing work that overlaps heavily with DevOps or platform engineering, and that overlap can change your market rate.
See our breakdown of software engineer vs DevOps salary if your job description already looks like a hybrid.
Company culture and policy shape pay indirectly too. A growing number of banks and insurers have pulled back on remote flexibility, and that return-to-office push has started to show up in retention data and, in some cases, retention bonuses.
Our piece on the return to office trend for software engineers covers how that shift is playing out across industries in 2026.
How Pay Transparency Is Changing the Picture
Several states now require salary ranges on job listings, and that has quietly reshaped negotiation at non-tech companies more than at Big Tech, where public pay data was already common through platforms like Levels.fyi.
Our guide on salary transparency in job postings breaks down what you are now legally entitled to see before you apply.
The Freelance and Contract Angle Non-Tech Engineers Overlook
Banks, hospital systems, and retailers rely heavily on contract engineers for modernization projects. Annualized rates in regulated industries can exceed a full-time non-tech salary, though you trade away benefits and job security to get there. Our guide on freelance software engineer income covers what that trade-off looks like in real dollars.
Common Misconceptions About Non-Tech Engineering Pay
“Non-tech companies always pay less.” Not true once you separate retail tech divisions and banking from smaller regional employers. Walmart Global Tech and JPMorgan Chase both post total comp figures that compete with mid-tier Big Tech.
“There is no equity outside of tech companies.” Many large non-tech employers do offer RSUs or performance shares, just in smaller amounts and with less volatility than a fast-growing tech stock.
“Healthcare pay is uniformly low.” Large systems investing in in-house technology, like UnitedHealth Group’s Optum division, pay meaningfully more than smaller hospital IT departments.
“Base salary tells the whole story.” As covered above, total compensation packages built on bonus structures and benefits can close or even flip a gap that looks large on paper.
Growth Timeline and What Accelerates It
Entry-level engineers at non-tech companies typically start in the $80,000 to $110,000 base range, per BLS and PayScale data.
By year five to eight, base pay in banking and retail tech divisions commonly reaches $130,000 to $190,000, based on the ranges above. Growth slows for engineers who stay too long in one role without moving into a specialized track or leadership.
If leveling up rather than switching employers is your plan, our real software engineer promotion guide covers what actually gets rewarded at review time.
For a broader look at where non-tech pay sits against the biggest employers in the industry, our top software engineering companies guide and our overview of what it is like to work as a software engineer in the US job market today are both useful next reads.
When to Stop Researching and Start Negotiating
At some point, more research just delays a decision you already have enough data to make. A few tactical notes before you go back to the table.
Bring a specific number, not a range, when you counter. Ranges invite the low end. Ask about total compensation explicitly, not just base, since non-tech recruiters sometimes lead with base because it is the simplest number to quote.
If you have a competing offer, name the company type, not necessarily the exact figure, since banks and retailers often benchmark against each other more than against tech firms.
And time your ask around review cycles when possible, since many non-tech employers set salary bands annually rather than adjusting them continuously the way some tech companies do.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Do banks pay software engineers well?
Yes, relative to most non-tech industries. Large banks like JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo report median total compensation in the $130,000 to $152,000 range, which is competitive with mid-size tech companies once bonuses are included.
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What is the average software engineer salary at a non-tech company?
The BLS reports a national median base salary of $133,080 for software developers across all industries, which is the most reliable non-tech benchmark since it covers banks, retailers, hospitals, and government contractors together.
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Is Walmart a good employer for software engineers?
Based on Levels.fyi data, Walmart Global Tech pays a median total compensation between $210,000 and $242,000, which rivals many mid-tier tech companies and makes it one of the stronger non-tech options in the retail sector.
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Do healthcare companies pay software engineers less than tech companies?
Generally yes. UnitedHealth Group’s median total compensation sits around $113,000 to $125,000, lower than banking or retail, largely due to smaller equity components and slower-moving compensation structures in regulated industries.
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What is the difference between total compensation and base salary?
Base salary is your fixed cash pay. Total compensation adds bonuses, equity, and other variable pay on top. Non-tech companies typically weight base salary more heavily, while tech companies lean on equity for a larger share of the package.
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Can freelance or contract engineers earn more than full-time non-tech employees?
Sometimes, especially on annualized hourly rates for specialized modernization work, but contractors give up benefits, job security, and often paid time off to get there.
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Are non-tech software engineer salaries rising in 2026?
Yes, though more slowly than tech-sector pay. Regulated industries have increased compensation to compete for cloud, security, and AI-adjacent skills, but the pace still trails large public tech companies.
Share Your Experience
If you work in software engineering at a bank, retailer, or healthcare company, I would genuinely like to hear how your offer compared to these numbers.
Drop a comment with your industry, level, and total comp range. It helps other engineers calibrate their own negotiations, and it helps keep this data grounded in what people are actually being offered right now.
How This Article Was Created
Every figure in this article comes from publicly reported data on Levels.fyi, Glassdoor, PayScale, Indeed, and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, pulled and cross-checked in July 2026. No salary numbers were estimated or invented.
Where sources disagreed, both figures are shown so you can see the range rather than a single misleading average. This article was written to help engineers evaluate real offers, not to promote any employer, platform, or recruiting service.
Shahzada Muhammad Ali Qureshi (Leeo)
I’m Shahzada — a software engineer by education and an SEO professional by trade. I built WhatIsTheSalary.com to go beyond just showing salary numbers — every page is manually researched across sources like BLS, Glassdoor, LinkedIn Salary, and PayScale to give you the full picture in one place. If you found what you were looking for here, that’s exactly the point.
