Salary benchmark
What do engineers earn across eight markets?
Compare percentiles, top-paying companies and city medians from Dubai to Dhaka.
Seeded July 21, 2026 from levels.fyi location pages, blended with Glassdoor, Payscale and local salary surveys.
Median total compensation
$91,503
Housing allowances often add 15–25% on top of base; AI and ML roles run 30–40% higher.
25th percentile
$65,360
Median
$91,503
75th percentile
$117,048
90th percentile
$151,396
Top paying companies
By city
Compare
The same job, eight markets
United Arab Emirates sits at $91,503 a year at the all-levels median, shown against the other seven markets, converted at July 2026 rates.
All-levels median total compensation per market, levels.fyi country pages blended with local surveys, converted at July 2026 rates.
Reference
The full table
Median total compensation by level, converted to US dollars at July 2026 rates. Local-currency figures and ranges are in the explorer above.
| Market | Junior median | Mid median | Senior median |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Arab EmiratesAED | $32,680 | $71,895 | $98,039 |
| Saudi ArabiaSAR | $35,200 | $54,438 | $88,000 |
| TurkeyTRY | $12,000 | $30,000 | $52,200 |
| JordanJOD | $11,989 | $22,003 | $42,313 |
| IndonesiaIDR | $6,145 | $9,497 | $16,760 |
| PakistanPKR | $3,226 | $9,677 | $15,054 |
| EgyptEGP | $3,550 | $7,101 | $11,736 |
| BangladeshBDT | $2,857 | $9,626 | $15,510 |
Level medians marked est. in the explorer are editorial blends of levels.fyi, Glassdoor, Payscale and local survey data rather than raw samples.
Methodology
Where these numbers come from
The dataset was seeded on July 21, 2026 from levels.fyi location pages for each of the eight markets: the all-levels percentiles, the top-paying companies and the city medians are taken from those pages directly. levels.fyi samples skew toward multinationals and funded startups, which is worth keeping in mind when a market's median looks high against its services sector.
Level ranges are blended with Glassdoor, Payscale and local salary surveys, because levels.fyi coverage thins out below senior in most of these markets. Ranges marked est. are editorial blends rather than raw samples. All figures are annual total compensation in local currency, and in this region total compensation mostly means cash: equity is near zero at typical employers outside a handful of names like Careem, G42 and Binance, while Gulf packages often add housing and transport allowances on top of base instead.
US dollar figures use July 2026 exchange rates. In high-inflation currencies (the Turkish lira, Egyptian pound and Pakistani rupee in particular), local figures age quickly, so treat the dollar column as the more durable comparison.
These are educational benchmarks, not an offer of employment terms. Individual offers vary by company, stack and negotiation. Use the ranges as a starting point, not a ceiling.
Questions
Regional pay, briefly
How much does a senior software engineer make in Dubai?
The senior median in the UAE is AED 360,049 a year in total compensation (about $98,000) per levels.fyi Dubai data, with the typical range running from AED 286,494 to AED 589,000. Top payers go further: Careem's engineer median sits above AED 520,000.
How much do software engineers earn in Pakistan?
The all-levels median is PKR 3.3 million a year, about $11,900. Seniors typically earn PKR 3–6 million, while remote roles for US companies pay PKR 400,000–1.5 million a month, several multiples of the local market.
Are these figures base salary or total compensation?
Annual total compensation. In practice the two sit close together across the region (stock is near zero at most employers outside a handful of names like Careem, G42 and Binance), though Gulf packages often add housing and transport allowances of 15–25% on top of base.
Why do remote roles pay so much more?
Because they price against US and EU budgets, not local markets. A senior in Turkey working remotely earns $4,000–10,000 a month, USD-remote roles in Egypt pay $2,500–5,000 a month, and in Pakistan remote packages run several multiples of local ones. The hard part is usually getting paid across borders, not finding the work.
Which market pays the most?
The UAE, at an all-levels median of AED 336,046 (about $91,500 a year), followed by Saudi Arabia at roughly $54,400 and Turkey at $30,000. Egypt, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indonesia cluster near $10,000–13,500, which is exactly why so many engineers there work remotely for foreign employers.
Where does the data come from?
Percentiles, city medians and top payers are seeded from levels.fyi location pages as of July 21, 2026, then blended with Glassdoor, Payscale and local salary surveys for level ranges. Ranges marked est. are editorial blends rather than raw samples. Currency conversion uses July 2026 rates.
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