Software Jobs in the US: Who's Hiring Right Now (Oct 2026)

You want to know who is actually hiring software people in the US right now, not vibes from a podcast. Here's a real snapshot from the JobRise live jobs feed, dated 14 October 2026. It counts open listings, not a market survey. Read it as a map.

What the feed shows right now#

There are 1,827 open software job listings in the United States on the feed. 1,116 of them went up in the last 30 days. 585 landed in just the last 7 days.

That last number matters most, because 585 fresh postings in a week means the market is moving fast and if you refreshed your search last Monday you're already behind the curve.

Zoom out and the US feed carries 13,720 open listings across all categories, with 8,471 posted in the last 30 days, per the JobRise Hiring Report: the US. Software is a big slice of that. Roughly one in seven listings. Tech hiring is a core part of this market, not a side show.

The companies with the most open roles#

Ten names dominate the feed. Anthropic leads with 170 open listings, then Palantir with 82, Google with 53, Stripe with 49, Brex with 49, Robinhood with 47, Geeks on Site with 46, Elastic with 43, Langchain with 41, and Datadog with 39.

Anthropic and Langchain sitting that high is the clearest signal in the whole dataset, because AI companies are hoovering up engineers right now and they're hiring faster than the old guard ever did. Palantir at 82 and Google at 53 shows defense-adjacent and big tech are still in the game. Just not leading.

Robinhood is worth a look too. They have "Senior Software Engineer, International" open. That's a real product role with real scope, not a generic backend seat. If you've touched payments, trading, or anything with compliance baked in, that's a fit.

Then there's Geeks on Site at 46 listings. Services and support outfit, not a product company. It's a reminder that "software jobs" includes the unglamorous work: help desk, field support, break-fix. Don't skip those if you need income while you chase the sexy stuff.

Where the jobs are#

San Francisco has 407 listings. New York has 264. Boston has 56, Denver 51, Seattle 48.

SF and NY hold over a third of the market between them, and if you're in Denver or Seattle you've got a smaller but real pool that's still worth searching every week. The Denver listings include contract embedded work like "Senior Embedded Software Engineer - RDK-B/Wi-Fi (Contract, Onsite - Denver, CO)" at Consult Red.

Remote isn't broken out as its own city bucket here, but you'll see "US Remote" in titles like "Junior QA Engineer - US Remote" at PerfectServe. Filter for it explicitly. You'll miss roles otherwise.

The job-type mix and what it says#

Full-time: 1,760. Contract: 62. Part-time: 4.

That's 96% full-time, which tells you employers want long-term heads on payroll and not gig workers cycling through short engagements. Contract roles exist but they're concentrated in specialized corners like the Consult Red embedded gig, where a specific chipset skill gets you a seat.

The mix says this market is product-company shaped. Anthropic, Palantir, Stripe, Brex, Robinhood, Elastic, Langchain, Datadog: that's eight product firms in the top ten. Agencies and staffing shops show up, Geeks on Site among them, and some listings are recruiters posting on behalf of clients, but they're the minority. Public sector is present in the odd charter school and municipal role. It's thin.

My read: aim at the product companies first and treat staffing firms as a backup channel. Better response rates there.

What the pay actually looks like#

Only 46 of 1,827 listings show a salary. That's 2.5%. Most employers are still hiding the number and making you guess.

The ones that do post pay are senior-heavy, so don't read these as typical numbers for every level, and check each posting yourself before you anchor a negotiation. As posted on the feed:

• Tech Lead and Manager (TLM), Production Engineering at Ramp: $240K, $330K, offers equity
• Tech Lead, Ramp Travel at Ramp: $275K, $400K, offers equity
• Software Engineer, Frontend, Growth at Ramp: $200K, $310K, offers equity
• Director of Engineering, Payments at Patreon: $340K, $425K, offers equity
• Tech Lead Full-Stack Rails Engineer at Mitre Media: $170k - $200k
• Software Engineer, Security Agents at Cohere: $195, $415,000, offers equity, multiple ranges

Ramp's three listings alone span $200K to $400K depending on scope. That's the spread at senior level. These are the numbers the listings show, not guarantees. Offers vary by level, location, and equity mix. Verify current ranges with the employer or the official posting before you anchor your ask.

Entry-level is a thin door#

30 of 1,827 listings have entry-level looking titles: intern, graduate, junior, trainee. That's 1.6% of the pool.

The roles that are there cluster in a few spots, so your search is really about hitting those specific employers repeatedly instead of casting a wide net and hoping something junior falls out. IBM has "Entry Level Software Developer 2027 - DURHAM" and "Entry Level Software Developer 2027 - SAN JOSE". Scaleai has "Software Engineer - New Grad" and "Software Engineer, Public Sector - New Grad". PerfectServe has "Junior QA Engineer - US Remote". Outside pure software, Felsburg Holt & Ullevig has "Water Resources Engineer, Entry Level - WR0020".

If you're new, apply to every one of these 30 and don't be precious about it. Then widen the net: apply to roles asking 2-3 years of experience anyway. Titles are sloppy. A "mid-level" seat often goes to someone with one good internship.

How to apply this week#

Apply direct whenever you can. Find the role on the feed, then go to the company's own careers page and submit there too, because you skip the recruiter queue and your resume lands in the same ATS with cleaner provenance.

Mirror the listing's keywords. If the posting says "Forward Deployed Engineer" (like the SZNS Solutions LLC role), use that exact phrase in your resume headline or summary. If it says "Staff Security Engineer" (Beyond Finance) or "Senior Cloud Security Engineer" (Alloy), match the level word and the domain word.

Run your resume through a free ATS resume checker before you send it. A lot of resumes get dropped on formatting alone, and you won't know unless you look.

Batch your work. Two hours on Tuesday and two on Thursday beats a Sunday marathon where you send 40 sloppy applications.

The 7-step plan#

• Pick 5 target companies from the top-10 list and open their careers pages today. Anthropic, Palantir, Stripe, Brex, and Robinhood are a strong starting five.
• Save 10 roles across SF, NY, and remote. Mix levels: one stretch, two on-target, two safety.
• Rewrite your resume headline to match each role's exact title. Same experience, different framing.
• Run the resume through the free ATS checker and fix anything it flags on format or keywords.
• Apply direct on the company site first, then through the feed listing as backup. Note the date you applied.
• Find one person at each target company on LinkedIn or a local meetup and send a two-line note referencing the specific role.
• Track everything in a spreadsheet: company, role, date applied, source, follow-up date. Review every Friday.

FAQ#

How current is this data?

It's a snapshot from the JobRise live jobs feed taken on 14 October 2026, counting open listings in the US software category. Listings move fast, so re-check the feed before you apply.

Are these all direct employer postings?

No. Some listings come from recruiters or staffing firms like Geeks on Site, posting on behalf of clients or hiring for internal support roles. Check the company name on the listing and apply direct when you can.

Should I apply to roles asking for more experience than I have?

Yes, within reason. Titles are inconsistent and a "mid-level" seat often goes to someone with one or two years less than posted. Skip anything asking for 8+ years if you have 1.

Why do so few listings show salary?

Only 46 of 1,827 listings in this snapshot show pay. Most employers still treat it as negotiable or confidential. Filter for pay transparency where the feed allows, and ask the recruiter for the range early.

Is contract work worth pursuing right now?

Only 62 of 1,827 listings are contract, so it's a small slice. Take contract roles when the skill match is exact (like the Consult Red embedded gig) or when you need income while hunting full-time.