At the beginning of 2026, the median salary of Ukrainian IT developers increased to $3450. This is $50 more than in the summer of 2025. At the same time, the positive dynamics did not affect all levels of specialists, and some positions recorded a decrease in income. Forbes Ukraine reports on this.
IT Specialists' Salaries in 2026: Who Gained and Who Lost
According to the winter survey by DOU, conducted in November-December 2025 among over 4500 IT specialists in Ukraine and abroad, only part of the market showed growth.
Changes in median salaries by levels:
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Junior — $900, a decrease of $30 over six months
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Middle — $2500, an increase of $100
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Senior — $4500, a drop of $200
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Team Lead — $5140, down $160
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Technical Lead — $5500, down $50
The highest salaries were recorded in Staff Software Engineer ($7227), System Architect ($6500, –$400), and Principal Software Engineer ($6333, +$133). Among top specialists, the third quartile earnings reach $8000.
IT Specialists' Salaries in 2026: Cities, Experience, and Paths
Kyiv maintains leadership in income levels with a median of $3700, although the figure has slightly decreased. In Lviv, the median salary is $3505. The most noticeable increase was recorded in Cherkasy, Uzhhorod, Lutsk, Poltava, and Rivne — sometimes by $500–$750.
In the major cities of the east and south — Dnipro, Kharkiv, and Odesa — the median is stable at around $3000. Western cities are traditionally represented in the top 10 in terms of salary levels.
By specialization, the highest incomes are held by Lead levels in Mobile and Embedded, while among Seniors, specialists in System & Infrastructure and Back-end earn the most. The highest median among Juniors is in the Embedded field.
Earlier we wrote, how much an IT specialist earns in Ukraine, Europe, and the USA, and what influences salary.