But how common is it for developers that is, people actually writing code for a living to make twice that much annually? According to Salary. What does it take to get to that level of pay, while still remaining a hands-on coder in other words, without moving into a pure management role? While there is no magic formula — or one path — for making this much money as a developer, some common themes did crop up. Not surprisingly, working in the finance industry seems to be a good place to get paid well, as is working for a big, profitable tech company like Microsoft, Google or Facebook see Glassdoor data. If getting the top-dollar for your work is your enginer goal, working as a contractor or negineer is considered one of the best ways to go. Some of the drawbacks, of course, are having to cover could i be making more money software engineer own benefits, the uncertainty of your next job after your contract ends and potentially crazy engineef.