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Dallas workers earn 3rd highest salaries in Texas in this in-demand tech job

Dallas software engineers make bank.

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It really pays to be a software engineer in Dallas, new data shows.

According to figures collected by the professional social network Blind, Dallas ranks as the third best-paying city in Texas for software engineers. Here, the annual base salary for a software engineer is $113,517, and the average annual compensation package (including salary, stock options, bonuses, and other goodies) is $132,788.

Prominent tech employers in Dallas include FireEye, Match, Palo Alto Networks, and Texas Instruments, according to Blind.

Dallas neighbor Plano comes in at No. 4 on the list. The average annual salary for a software engineer in Plano is $107,251, while the average annual compensation is $121,127.

“North Texas is experiencing strong job growth, and Plano has benefited from the boom,” Blind says.

High-profile tech employers in Plano include IBM, Intuit, Juniper Networks, Red Hat, and Splunk, according to Blind.

Software engineers, also known as software developers, create and test apps, computer software, and related technology. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics identifies software developer as one of the most in-demand jobs for 2020 to 2030. The bureau projects the need for an additional 409,500 software developers in the U.S. during that period.

“In nearly every industry, we’re facing a global talent shortage,” says KMS Technology, an Atlanta-based provider of software development, testing, and consulting services. “When it comes to software development, however, the shortage is perhaps the most severe. Companies are struggling to find qualified software engineers to fill jobs, and it’s happening in record numbers.”

Therefore, software engineers continue to be among the highest-paid workers in the country.

By way of comparison, the average salary for jobs in Dallas is $61,979 per year.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, tech juggernaut Austin ranks first in the survey. In Austin, the annual base salary for a software engineer is $128,524, and the average annual compensation package is $171,981.

“The state capital is home to some of the largest tech giants,” Blind says.

Blind rattles off several tech companies with a big presence in the city: Apple, Amazon, Dell, Facebook, Google, PayPal, Tesla, and TikTok.

Elsewhere in Texas, Houston appears at No. 2 on Blind’s list of the best-paying Texas cities for software engineers. There, the average annual salary is $111,625, and the average annual compensation is $137,987.

“Long before Austin became a magnet for jobs, there was Houston. Long a hub for the aerospace, defense, and energy industries, the aptly named Space City has been a go-to place for a job in tech,” Blind says.

Among the Houston tech employers mentioned by Blind are Aspen Technology, Cisco, Intel, Microsoft, and SAP.

Rounding out the top five in Texas is San Antonio. There, the average annual salary for a software engineer is $94,626, and the average annual compensation is $105,254. San Antonio tech employers highlighted by Blind include Fiserv, iHeartMedia, Oracle, Rackspace, and ServiceNow.

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THE FUTURE IS NOW

Self-driving Waymo robotaxis can now be hailed in Dallas

Waymo/ FacebookWa

Waymo is now offering driverless rides to San Antonians.

Waymo will begin dispatching its robotaxis in Dallas and four more cities in Texas and Florida, expanding the territory covered by its fleet of self-driving cars to 10 major U.S. metropolitan markets.

The move into Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Orlando, Florida, announced Tuesday, February 24, widens Waymo's early lead in autonomous driving while rival services from Tesla and the Amazon-owned Zoox are still testing their vehicles in only a few U.S. cities.

In contrast, Waymo's robotaxis already provide more than 400,000 weekly trips in the six metropolitan areas where they have been transporting passengers: Phoenix, the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Miami, Atlanta, and Austin.

Waymo operates its ride-hailing service through its own app in all the U.S. cities except Atlanta and Austin, where its robotaxis can only be summoned through Uber's ride-hailing service.

In Dallas, they'll partner with Avis, according to a release — offering their ride-hailing service through the Waymo app, with a fleet managed through a new multi-year partnership with Avis Budget Group, whose expertise will help Waymo scale the Waymo Driver even faster.

Avis will provide end-to-end fleet management services, including infrastructure, vehicle readiness, maintenance, and general depot operations.

Dallas' downtown metro area is considered well suited for Waymo's 24/7 autonomous ride-hailing service. They also aim to improve road safety and partner with the city of Dallas on its "Vision Zero" plan to eliminate all traffic-related deaths and reduce severe injury crashes by 50 percent by 2030.

The expansion into four more markets marks a significant step toward Waymo's goal to surpass 1 million weekly paid trips by the end of 2026. Without identifying where its robotaxis will be available next, Waymo is targeting a list of eight other cities that include Las Vegas, Washington, Detroit, and Boston while signaling its first overseas availability is likely to be London.

To help pay for more robotaxis, Waymo recently raised $16 billion as part of the financial infusion that puts the value of the company at $126 billion. The valuation fueled speculation that Waymo may eventually be spun off from its corporate parent Alphabet, where it began as a secret project within Google in 2009.

Although Waymo is opening up in four more cities, its robotaxis initially will only be made available to a limited number of people with its ride-hailing app in Dallas, San Antonio, Houston, and Orlando before the service will be available to all corners in those markets.

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Teresa Gubbins contributed to this story.

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