Forget Silicon Valley—Charlotte's software development scene is exploding with opportunity, as evidenced by its remarkable 18,450 professionals, a workforce that grew by a staggering 12.3% in just a single year.
Key Takeaways
- In 2023, Charlotte's software development sector employed 18,450 professionals, marking a 12.3% increase from 2022
- The average annual salary for software developers in Charlotte was $118,760 in 2023, 8% above the national average
- Charlotte ranked 15th in the US for software engineering job postings with 2,340 openings in Q4 2023
- Charlotte software development companies generated $4.2 billion in revenue in 2023
- Average revenue per software firm in Charlotte was $28.5 million in 2023
- Software sector GDP contribution in Charlotte metro was 7.8% or $12.4B in 2023
- Charlotte software industry VC funding reached $1.45B in 2023
- Number of software funding deals in Charlotte: 156 in 2023, up 28%
- Average Series A round for Charlotte software startups: $12.8M in 2023
- UNC Charlotte graduated 1,420 CS students in 2023, 65% entering software dev
- CPCC software development bootcamp enrolled 850 students in 2023
- UNC Charlotte MS in Software Engineering: 320 graduates, 95% placement 2023
- Charlotte filed 2,450 software patents in 2023, up 19% from 2022
- AI software adoption rate in Charlotte firms: 68% in 2023
- Cloud migration complete in 82% of Charlotte software companies 2023
Charlotte's software industry is booming with rapid job growth and strong salaries.
Employment
- In 2023, Charlotte's software development sector employed 18,450 professionals, marking a 12.3% increase from 2022
- The average annual salary for software developers in Charlotte was $118,760 in 2023, 8% above the national average
- Charlotte ranked 15th in the US for software engineering job postings with 2,340 openings in Q4 2023
- Women represented 28.4% of the software development workforce in Charlotte in 2023, up from 25.1% in 2020
- Entry-level software developer positions in Charlotte grew by 22% year-over-year in 2023, totaling 1,120 jobs
- Charlotte's software industry unemployment rate for developers was 1.8% in 2023, below the national 2.5%
- Remote software development jobs in Charlotte increased to 35% of total postings in 2023 from 12% pre-pandemic
- The software development sector added 2,150 net new jobs in Charlotte metro area during 2023
- African American software professionals in Charlotte numbered 3,210 in 2023, comprising 17.4% of the workforce
- Senior software engineers in Charlotte earned a median of $142,500 annually in 2023
- Charlotte software firms reported a 9.2% turnover rate for developers in 2023, lower than the US average of 13.1%
- Full-stack developers made up 42% of Charlotte's software job market in 2023 with 7,800 positions
- Hispanic/Latino software workers in Charlotte reached 2,450 or 13.3% of total in 2023
- Software developer job growth projected at 18% for Charlotte through 2030
- Charlotte hosted 1,450 software internships in 2023, a 25% rise from 2022
- Mobile app developers in Charlotte numbered 3,200 with average salary $125,400 in 2023
- Software QA engineers comprised 11% of roles with 2,030 jobs in 2023
- Veteran employment in Charlotte software sector hit 1,120 or 6.1% in 2023
- DevOps engineers saw 28% job growth to 1,850 positions in Charlotte 2023
- Charlotte software workforce aged 25-34 was 52% or 9,594 professionals in 2023
- Cloud software specialists in Charlotte reached 4,100 jobs paying $130,200 avg in 2023
- Software development employment density in Charlotte was 145 jobs per 10,000 residents in 2023
- UI/UX designers in software roles totaled 2,650 with 14% growth in 2023
- Charlotte software sector freelance developers numbered 3,450 active in 2023
- Backend developers held 38% market share with 7,011 jobs in Charlotte 2023
- Software architects earned $160,800 median in Charlotte with 980 openings 2023
- Cybersecurity software devs in Charlotte: 2,780 jobs, 32% growth 2023
- Data software engineers: 3,500 roles, avg $128,900 salary Charlotte 2023
- AI/ML software positions in Charlotte surged 45% to 1,250 in 2023
Employment Interpretation
Despite still being an overwhelmingly male and youth-dominated field, Charlotte's software development sector is robustly expanding, paying above-average salaries while making measured, if slow, progress in diversity, even as it rapidly embraces remote work and the cutting-edge demands for AI, cloud, and DevOps talent.
Innovation and Adoption
- Charlotte filed 2,450 software patents in 2023, up 19% from 2022
- AI software adoption rate in Charlotte firms: 68% in 2023
- Cloud migration complete in 82% of Charlotte software companies 2023
- Open source contributions from Charlotte devs: 145,000 in 2023
- Blockchain pilots in Charlotte software: 56 active projects 2023
- 5G-integrated software apps: 210 launched from Charlotte 2023
- Quantum computing software R&D investments: $45M Charlotte 2023
- Charlotte software firms average 4.2 GitHub repos per dev 2023
- DevSecOps adoption: 71% of Charlotte software teams 2023
- Low-code/no-code platforms used by 55% Charlotte software devs 2023
- Edge computing software deployments: 340 in Charlotte 2023
- Charlotte software R&D spend: $890M or 21% of revenue 2023
- Microservices architecture in 76% Charlotte software projects 2023
- Serverless computing adoption: 49% Charlotte firms 2023
- Charlotte hosted 28 tech innovation conferences for software 2023
- Agile methodology usage: 92% Charlotte software teams 2023
- CI/CD pipeline implementation: 84% adoption Charlotte 2023
- Charlotte software firms filed 1,120 trademarks in 2023
- RPA software adoption: 62% in Charlotte enterprises 2023
- Digital twin software projects: 145 active in Charlotte 2023
- Charlotte software startups launched 420 MVPs in 2023
Innovation and Adoption Interpretation
It appears Charlotte's software industry has officially moved from brewing sweet tea to aggressively caffeinating every digital frontier, from AI and quantum whispers to blockchain pilots and a small army of digital twins, all while somehow managing to keep nearly everyone in an agile stand-up meeting.
Investment
- Charlotte software industry VC funding reached $1.45B in 2023
- Number of software funding deals in Charlotte: 156 in 2023, up 28%
- Average Series A round for Charlotte software startups: $12.8M in 2023
- Corporate VC investments in Charlotte software: $320M across 24 deals 2023
- Seed funding for software firms in Charlotte totaled $285M in 2023
- Late-stage funding rounds averaged $45.6M for Charlotte software 2023
- Fintech software attracted $680M VC in Charlotte, 47% of total 2023
- Healthtech software funding $210M from 18 deals in Charlotte 2023
- SaaS software startups raised $420M in Charlotte 2023
- AI/ML software investments hit $290M across 22 rounds Charlotte 2023
- Cybersecurity software VC: $180M in Charlotte, 32% growth 2023
- Charlotte software accelerators funded 45 startups with $95M in 2023
- Angel investments in software totaled $145M for 67 deals Charlotte 2023
- Government grants for Charlotte software R&D: $68M in 2023
- M&A deals in Charlotte software: 12 totaling $2.1B value 2023
- Cloud software funding $310M from 15 investors Charlotte 2023
- Big data software investments $165M in Charlotte 2023
- IoT software VC rounds: 11 deals worth $120M Charlotte 2023
- Edtech software funding $75M across 9 startups Charlotte 2023
- Proptech software raised $110M in Charlotte 2023
- Gaming software investments $85M for 7 companies Charlotte 2023
- Logistics software VC $95M in Charlotte 2023
- Custom software firms secured $55M funding Charlotte 2023
- Blockchain software investments $140M Charlotte 2023
Investment Interpretation
Charlotte isn't just politely asking for a seat at the tech table anymore; with fintech leading a $1.45B charge and every sector from AI to cybersecurity seeing explosive growth, it's pulling up its own chair and ordering a very serious, very well-funded round for the whole room.
Revenue and Growth
- Charlotte software development companies generated $4.2 billion in revenue in 2023
- Average revenue per software firm in Charlotte was $28.5 million in 2023
- Software sector GDP contribution in Charlotte metro was 7.8% or $12.4B in 2023
- Top 10 Charlotte software companies averaged 25% YoY revenue growth in 2023
- SaaS companies in Charlotte reported $1.8B collective revenue, 18% growth 2023
- Fintech software revenue in Charlotte hit $2.1B, up 22% from 2022
- Charlotte software startups achieved $850M in ARR by end of 2023
- Enterprise software firms grew revenue 14.2% to $1.9B in Charlotte 2023
- Healthtech software revenue in Charlotte: $650M, 30% increase 2023
- E-commerce software sector revenue $420M, 19% YoY growth Charlotte 2023
- Charlotte software industry profit margins averaged 22.4% in 2023
- Number of software companies in Charlotte grew to 1,480 in 2023 from 1,320
- Median revenue for mid-sized Charlotte software firms: $45.2M in 2023
- Cloud service software revenue $1.2B, 26% growth in Charlotte 2023
- Gaming software revenue in Charlotte reached $180M with 15% growth 2023
- Logistics software firms generated $320M revenue, 17% up Charlotte 2023
- Charlotte software exports totaled $890M in 2023, 12% increase
- Custom software development revenue $750M, 20% YoY growth 2023
- Big data analytics software revenue $560M in Charlotte, 24% growth 2023
- IoT software sector revenue $410M, 28% increase Charlotte 2023
- AR/VR software revenue $95M with 35% growth in Charlotte 2023
- Blockchain software firms revenue $210M, 40% surge Charlotte 2023
- Edtech software revenue $140M, 18% growth Charlotte 2023
- Proptech software revenue $260M, 22% up in Charlotte 2023
Revenue and Growth Interpretation
While Charlotte might not have the swagger of Silicon Valley, with a software sector now punching above its weight at nearly 8% of the metro's GDP and boasting fat 22% profit margins, the Queen City is clearly trading in her banking crown for a more diverse and lucrative digital tiara.
Talent and Education
- UNC Charlotte graduated 1,420 CS students in 2023, 65% entering software dev
- CPCC software development bootcamp enrolled 850 students in 2023
- UNC Charlotte MS in Software Engineering: 320 graduates, 95% placement 2023
- Charlotte Code Immersive bootcamp placed 92% of 450 grads in software jobs 2023
- NC State satellite programs trained 620 in software dev for Charlotte 2023
- Queens University CS program output 280 software-ready grads 2023
- Central Piedmont software certifications issued: 1,150 in 2023
- Charlotte Tech Talent Pipeline initiative upskilled 2,100 workers 2023
- Johnson C. Smith University CS grads: 160, 88% software employment 2023
- UNC Charlotte women in CS: 380 grads, 72% software roles 2023
- Software dev apprenticeships: 750 completers in Charlotte 2023
- Black software talent programs trained 420 in Charlotte 2023
- Hispanic software education initiatives: 310 participants Charlotte 2023
- Veteran software retraining: 240 completers placed 2023 Charlotte
- High school CS programs fed 1,050 into Charlotte software pipeline 2023
- Online software certs via Coursera: 5,200 Charlotte residents 2023
- AWS certifications for software devs: 2,800 earned in Charlotte 2023
- Google Cloud software training: 1,650 completers Charlotte 2023
- Microsoft Azure dev certs: 2,100 in Charlotte software community 2023
- Cisco DevNet certifications: 890 for Charlotte software pros 2023
- Charlotte software hackathons trained 3,200 participants in 2023
- Mentorship programs paired 1,450 mentees with software pros 2023
- Diversity in software education: 28% underrepresented minorities 2023
- Software dev MOOCs completion rate 85% for 4,500 Charlotte learners 2023
- Corporate tuition assistance for software training: $12M spent 2023
Talent and Education Interpretation
Charlotte is in the midst of a full-scale, multi-front software talent offensive, where the academic institutions, bootcamps, corporate initiatives, and community programs are collectively building a dev army so large and diverse that the city’s main export might soon be functional code.
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