Software Engineer jobs in 2026 — required skills, demand trends, and top hiring cities
As of 2026-09-08, Skillenai has indexed 36,282 job postings with the title “Software Engineer” over the past 90 days. The skill mentioned most often is Python, with demand down 18% vs the prior 4 weeks.
Last updated · 90d ending 2026-09-08
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Frequently asked questions about Software Engineer jobs
+How many Software Engineer jobs are being posted in 2026?
Skillenai has indexed 36,282 job postings with the title “Software Engineer” over the 90 days ending 2026-09-08, with demand down 18% vs the prior 4 weeks.
+What skills do Software Engineer jobs require?
Across Software Engineer postings indexed by Skillenai over the 90 days ending 2026-09-08, the skills mentioned most often are Python, Java, AWS, Kubernetes, TypeScript.
+Which cities are hiring the most Software Engineer?
As of 2026-09-08, Software Engineer postings indexed by Skillenai are concentrated in San Francisco, New York City, Bengaluru, London, Toronto.
+Is Software Engineer a good career path right now?
Skillenai indexes 36,282 Software Engineer postings over the 90 days ending 2026-09-08, with demand down 18% vs the prior 4 weeks. The skill mentioned most often in Software Engineer postings is Python, so building it gives the strongest signal that an applicant matches the role.
+How can I track new Software Engineer job postings as they’re indexed?
Skillenai sends a daily email digest of new Software Engineer postings indexed across the open web. Subscribe from your account dashboard after creating a free Skillenai account.
Weekly Software Engineer postings — last 90 days
Salary distribution
Box = 25th–75th percentile · tick = median · whisker = 10th–90th · USD, annualized
Skills most often required for Software Engineer
| Name | Postings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Python | 12,020 | 33.1% |
| Java | 9,937 | 27.4% |
| AWS | 7,970 | 22.0% |
| Kubernetes | 6,858 | 18.9% |
| TypeScript | 6,757 | 18.6% |
| CI/CD | 6,724 | 18.5% |
| React | 5,931 | 16.3% |
| Distributed systems | 5,549 | 15.3% |
| JavaScript | 5,022 | 13.8% |
| Docker | 4,979 | 13.7% |
| Go | 4,938 | 13.6% |
| C++ | 4,672 | 12.9% |
| SQL | 4,659 | 12.8% |
| observability | 3,643 | 10.0% |
| microservices | 3,541 | 9.8% |
Top metros hiring Software Engineer
| Name | Postings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | 1,618 | 4.5% |
| New York City | 1,357 | 3.7% |
| Bengaluru | 895 | 2.5% |
| London | 856 | 2.4% |
| Toronto | 585 | 1.6% |
| Seattle | 556 | 1.5% |
| Pune | 449 | 1.2% |
| Mountain View | 399 | 1.1% |
| San Jose | 383 | 1.1% |
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How this was computed
Counts derive from the Skillenai jobs index over the 90 days ending 2026-09-08, matching postings whose canonical role is “Software Engineer”. Pages refresh weekly (or daily for the top-50 most-posted roles).
- role
- Software Engineer
- source
- Skillenai jobs index, deduplicated daily
- data_as_of
- 2026-09-08
- window_days
- 90
The demand, skills, and geo numbers on this page come from the same Skillenai labor market index that powers our API. Use it for compensation benchmarking, hiring-competition analysis, and skill-adoption tracking.
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