Software engineer salary in Pakistan 2026: Levels.fyi says PKR 3.14M, PayScale says PKR 989K. Here's why
Two salary sources, a 3x gap at the median. What Levels.fyi (148 submissions) and PayScale (490 profiles) actually measure, and how to use both.
Status: Reported All figures are published by the named salary sites (self-reported data), checked 6 Oct 2026. They are not employer-confirmed. What the labels mean.
What does a software engineer earn in Pakistan? Depends on who you ask. Literally.
We checked two published salary sources for “software engineer, Pakistan” on 6 October 2026. Same job title, and more than 3x difference at the median. Here are both sets of numbers, side by side, and why they disagree.
The numbers
Levels.fyi: 148 submissions, total compensation per year
| Percentile | Per year | Per month (our maths) |
|---|---|---|
| 25th | PKR 1.78M | about PKR 148K |
| Median | PKR 3.14M | about PKR 262K |
| 75th | PKR 5.03M | about PKR 419K |
| 90th | PKR 8.73M | about PKR 728K |
PayScale: 490 profiles, base salary per year (updated Jul 2026)
| Measure | Per year | Per month (our maths) |
|---|---|---|
| Median base salary | PKR 989K | about PKR 82K |
| Entry level (<1 yr), average total pay | PKR 715K | about PKR 60K |
| Early career (1-4 yrs), average total pay | PKR 1.05M | about PKR 88K |
| 90th percentile | PKR 3M | about PKR 250K |
Monthly figures are our own simple conversions (yearly ÷ 12, rounded). They are not published by either source.
Why the gap is so big
PKR 3.14M against PKR 989K is a gap of more than three times, for the same title. Neither number is wrong. They measure different things:
- Total pay vs base pay. Levels.fyi counts total compensation. PayScale’s median is base salary. Anything paid on top of base shows up in one and not the other.
- Who submits. Levels.fyi’s submitters likely skew towards higher-paying tech companies. PayScale draws on a wider pool.
- Sample size. 148 submissions against 490 profiles. Both are small for a whole country’s software workforce, so a few high or low entries can move the numbers.
- Freshness. The Levels.fyi page was updated on 6 October 2026; the PayScale page on 8 July 2026.
Neither one is “the truth”. Together they show how wide the market really is.
How to use these numbers before a negotiation
- Check both sources, and note whether the number is base or total.
- Compare like with like. If an offer is base pay only, compare it with PayScale’s base median, not Levels.fyi’s total comp.
- Ask peers at your target company. Published data tells you the range; people tell you where a specific employer sits in it.
- Look at the percentile, not just the median. If you have strong experience, the 75th percentile may be the more honest reference point.
Bonus: other roles on Levels.fyi
Levels.fyi also lists Product Manager (median PKR 4.01M, 12 submissions) and Data Scientist (median PKR 3.96M, 16 submissions) in Pakistan. These samples are very small; see our separate breakdown on what they can and can’t tell you.
FAQ
Is the Levels.fyi median the “real” software engineer salary in Pakistan?
No. It is the median of 148 self-submitted total compensation figures. It is a useful reference for higher-paying tech employers, not a national average.
Why do you convert to monthly?
So you can compare quickly with a monthly salary or offer. The conversion is our own arithmetic, labelled as such.
Know a salary data source we should compare next? Send it to us. We verify before we post.
Sources
- Levels.fyi, Software Engineer salary in Pakistan . Checked 6 Oct 2026 . 148 submissions, total compensation; page last updated 6 Oct 2026
- PayScale, Software Engineer salary in Pakistan . Checked 6 Oct 2026 . 490 profiles, base salary; page last updated 8 Jul 2026
Drafted with AI assistance from the sources listed above; every figure and link is checked against those sources before publishing. Spotted an error? Tell us (see our corrections policy). Discuss it on LinkedIn.