A Guide To US Offshore Software Development (2025)

Reversing Offshoring Stereotypes

Our deep dive into global offshore software developer rates found the United States is the fifth most expensive country to hire from, with developers averaging USD88 / hour.

If you’re outside the US and looking to hire American developers, affordability isn’t your top priority.

In fact, it’s probably not a priority at all!

Whatever your requirements are, sounds like you believe the US is your best bet.

Considering the premium, we’d like to respectfully challenge your reasons!

If you’re right, you’ll find our overview of US developer rates quite handy.

And if it turns out you’re considering US offshore developers due to misconceptions, we’d like to offer an alternative for your software development project.

It’s a win for you either way, so let’s begin.

Why Would a Non-US Client Hire US Developers?

We naturally have our own thoughts, but didn’t want this to be just about what we think.

So, we asked Reddit 🙂

We asked several subreddits and r/webdev had the most to say on the matter while folks on r/SaaS mostly gave us…sass.

We’ve summarized the responses into two categories: Objective and questionable reasons. 

Objectively Justifiable Reasons

Here are four solid reasons an offshore team of US developers could be worth the high cost.

1. Required by Law

If your software handles confidential or restricted US government data, you may be legally required to hire a US-based team.

For example, the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) mandates that only US citizens residing in the US can work on defense-related software.

Similar legal restrictions exist in other countries and there’s no workaround.

2.Custom and Complex Requirements

If existing templates or boilerplate code won’t work, you may need a custom framework, a foundational structure of reusable code that defines how software is developed.

It’s very challenging because you have no frame of reference; you’re making one!

As most popular frameworks today like Flutter and React Native originate from the US, it absolutely makes sense to hire offshore American developers to build you a custom framework.

3. Need for Lots of High Quality Talent

Top-tier developers exist worldwide, but the US is probably where you’ll find most of them.

Thanks to high salaries and tech hubs like Silicon Valley, the US is a magnet for global talent, and if you need a large, experienced team of developers, the US is a good place to look.

4. Selling to an American Market

If your target market is the US, having a “US-based” team can add credibility.

People often trust homegrown products, and developers with people-skills can double as very effective sales people at a later stage.

A salesperson who can talk about a tech product on a technical level is a powerful combination.

If any of these four reasons apply to you, skip to our overview of US developer hourly rates with a detailed breakdown by state.

Questionable Reasons

It’s not that you won’t get those benefits with US developers, but you can get them elsewhere for less!

So if these are the reasons you’re hiring US-based developers, it might be time to rethink.

1. US Work Culture

It’s a common belief that US developers are highly proactive and critical in their work, and whether or not this is true, we don’t know, and we’re not here to argue that.

But do you really think there are no proactive developers in all of Southeast Asia or Africa?

Yes, there can be a culture of “don’t ask, don’t tell” in some cultures, but the fix is simple: Ask!

If you tell developers you want them to challenge you, suggest ideas, and point out when you’re mistaken, most will gladly do it.

2. Getting a “High Quality” Product

Many on Reddit said that if all that mattered was software quality, never mind cost, they’d hire US developers.

The assumption here is that “the US is the best and everywhere else is worse”.

This is just straight up wrong as you can find great developers everywhere.

How you hire and manage developers will always matter more than their nationality.

3. English Proficiency

We found this one quite funny because yes, US developers are native English speakers.

That doesn’t mean they can communicate well with second language speakers.

If you speak English as a second language, don’t be shocked if Americans struggle with your accent!

More importantly, many developers in tech hubs like Singapore and India are highly proficient in English, more than enough to speak to a global audience.

If you’re guilty of these misconceptions, see our alternative to offshore US developers below.

Overview of the US Developer Market 

We first tried third-party sites hoping to compile information and share averages.

However, we found such conflicting data that we felt averages would still be too inaccurate.

In the end we went with one trustworthy source: 2024 data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics based on 1,654,440 software developers.

Enjoy 🙂

National Statistics

Combining data from all locations, US software developers cost an average of $69.50 / hour.

The top 25% of developers charge $81.25 / hour while the top 10% charge a sweet $101.66.

Sweet for them, not for you.

Top States by Number of Developers

• California: 292,630
• Texas: 151,460
• New York: 104,130
• Washington: 91,470
• Virginia: 83,290

Top Cities by Number of Developers

• New York-Newark-Jersey City: 119,610
• San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara: 90,280
• San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont: 76,900
• Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue: 72,730
• Washington-Arlington-Alexandria: 68,210
• Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington: 63,430
• Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim: 54,650
• Boston-Cambridge-Newton: 48,200
• Chicago-Naperville-Elgin: 41,320
• Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell: 35,900

Hourly Rates by State

• California: $89.30
• Washington: $84.42
• New York: $76.92
• Massachusetts: $73.87
• Maryland: $72.50
• Oregon: $70.51
• District of Columbia: $69.14
• Virginia: $68.38
• New Jersey: $67.56
• New Hampshire: $67.24
• Virgin Islands: $67.09
• Nevada: $66.31
• Connecticut: $65.64
• Delaware: $65.47
• Vermont: $64.58
• Texas: $64.08
• Arizona: $64.01
• Alaska: $63.91
• North Carolina: $63.35
• Florida: $61.68
• Georgia: $61.69
• Illinois: $61.07
• Rhode Island: $60.97
• Utah: $60.89
• Idaho: $60.32
• Hawaii: $60.08
• Pennsylvania: $58.77
• Minnesota: $58.46
• Wyoming: $58.41
• Montana: $58.15
• New Mexico: $57.73
• Louisiana: $57.59
• South Carolina: $57.51
• Indiana: $51.74
• West Virginia: $51.60
• Kentucky: $54.90
• Missouri: $54.93
• Wisconsin: $54.82
• Iowa: $55.77
• Nebraska: $55.82
• Ohio: $55.93
• Michigan: $55.23
• Kansas: $54.28
• Oklahoma: $54.29
• Maine: $56.78
• Tennessee: $56.70
• Alabama: $56.43
• Arkansas: $48.26
• North Dakota: $49.81
• South Dakota: $44.90
• Mississippi: $42.30
• Puerto Rico: $32.82

We were just as surprised as most of you to see Puerto Rico on the list.

We immediately abandoned our research and went on a tangent–turns out Puerto Rico is part of the US territory and Puerto Ricans are technically US citizens. 

So if you want US developers for India prices, hire offshore developers from Puerto Rico!

Alternative to Offshore US Developers

Instead of hiring US, hire us.

And by us, we mean Upstack Studio 🙂

We’re a small team, and that’s been our strength over our many years of helping businesses and founders build custom software solutions.

Many of our clients are based overseas, and working across time zones is second nature to us. 

All it takes is a few well-chosen digital tools, and our own version of Agile methodology.

If you value developers who aren’t afraid to push back and manage themselves while you focus on business, let’s speak. 

Regardless, happy offshoring!

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