Terminal’s 2026 Remote Engineer Salary Insights Report: A Guide for Engineering and Hiring Leaders

Global tech hiring is up 9% year over year. Yet 74% of U.S. employers say they can’t fill technical roles fast enough. If you’re an engineering or people leader trying to close that gap, the next hire probably isn’t sitting in your own backyard, and knowing what to pay them is critical.

Terminal’s annual Remote Software Engineer Salary Insights Report is out, and it’s our most detailed look yet at what it actually costs to build engineering teams across Canada, Latin America, and Europe, broken down by country, by role, and by level. Here’s what matters most if you’re the one setting comp bands or signing off on headcount.

What’s new this year

Two changes worth knowing before you dig into the numbers. First, we’ve added contractor rates alongside full-time salaries for every market, because the gap between the two shapes real build-vs-borrow decisions. In Poland, full-time engineers earn a median of $89,183 a year, while contractors bill a median of $10,540 a month, a difference of more than $37,000 once you annualize it. Second, we’ve added Hungary to our European benchmarks as it continues to grow as a tech hub.

Canada: the highest pay, the deepest bench

Canada is the most expensive market in the report, but it also has the widest bench of specialized talent, a fair trade if you need niche skills fast. Data engineer is the highest-paid role, and the biggest pay jump now lands between mid-level and senior engineers, a shift from last year’s more junior-heavy curve. The market is fed by strong CS programs and a deep startup base that includes Shopify, Wealthsimple, and Hopper.

Latin America: consistent pricing, a new leader

Latin America remains the most budget-consistent region in the report, with medians across Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Mexico close enough to make the choice more about fit than cost. Costa Rica has taken the regional lead this year on the back of heavy government investment in its tech sector, while Chile stands out for having by far the lowest added employment cost of any market covered. Mexico pulls ahead at the senior level and offers the strongest time-zone overlap with U.S. teams, and Colombia’s contractor rates punch above its full-time pay. Data engineer is the top-paying role across the region.

Europe: the widest spread, the most upside

Europe shows the biggest gap between its highest- and lowest-paid markets, though that gap has narrowed slightly from last year. Hungary, newly added to this edition, tops the list, while Spain sits at the bottom with the thinnest bench of specialized talent. Poland is the region’s contractor hotspot: despite ranking near the bottom on full-time pay, it commands the strongest contractor rates in Europe thanks to favorable tax treatment, and Romania pairs a low employment cost with the region’s most affordable contractor rate. Data engineer is the top-paying role here too, the same pattern seen in Canada and Latin America.

The pattern behind every market: AI and data command the premium

Regardless of region, the roles worth budgeting extra for are the same. AI/ML engineers top the earnings table globally at $108,526, followed by data scientists and data engineers, displacing DevOps engineers from the third spot they held last year. Less specialized roles like designer and product manager pay meaningfully less, while frontend, full-stack, and mobile engineering land somewhere in the middle.

“For your next planning cycle: if cost is the constraint, Europe or Latin America give you the most room. If you need the deepest bench of specialized talent, Canada is still the strongest bet. If time-zone overlap with a U.S. team matters most, Latin America or Canada win. And if you want to get ahead of an emerging market before it’s fully priced in, Europe, especially Hungary and Poland, is where to look.”

What this means for your hiring strategy

Employment cost isn’t a rounding error: it ranges from 9% in Chile to 40% in Costa Rica, so two markets with similar headline salaries can land very differently on total cost. Factor it in before you compare regions on price alone.

Specialization availability doesn’t track neatly with cost. Spain has the lowest median salary in the report, but you’ll have a harder time finding AI/ML or data engineering talent there than in Canada, where salaries run highest but the bench is deepest. Match the market to the role you’re actually trying to fill, not just the budget line.

Soft factors like English proficiency, cultural overlap, and time-zone alignment affect project success as much as comp does. Canada scores highest on cultural and linguistic overlap with U.S. teams, which can offset its higher price tag through fewer collaboration hiccups. The EF English Proficiency Index is a useful reference point if you’re evaluating a market for the first time.

Frequently asked questions

How much do remote software engineers make in 2026?

Median full-time salaries range from about $77,646 in Spain to $121,124 in Canada, with Latin America landing between $103,075 and $106,918 depending on country. Pay varies significantly by role, level, and country.

What is the cheapest region to hire remote software engineers?

Europe and Latin America offer the lowest median salaries. Spain has the lowest overall median at $77,646, though it also has the highest added employment cost in Europe and limited availability of specialized roles like AI/ML and data engineering.

How much more do contractor rates cost than full-time salaries?

The gap varies by market. In Poland, for example, full-time engineers earn a median of $89,183 a year, while contractors bill a median of $10,540 a month, a difference of more than $37,000 when annualized.

Which software engineering roles pay the most in 2026?

AI/ML engineers are the highest-paid role globally at a median of $108,526, followed by data scientists ($105,873) and data engineers ($99,841). Data engineer is the single highest-paid role in Canada, Latin America, and Europe individually.

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Get the full country-by-country breakdown, role- and level-specific data, and hiring guidance. Download the full report. 

Source: Terminal’s 2026 Remote Software Engineer Salary Insights Report, based on data from Terminal’s 260K+ salary database. Explore live, filterable data year-round in Terminal’s Salary Center. See the full report for precise, role-by-role breakdowns by country and level.