Starting range
Average salary
Top earners
Slightly below U.S. average
Compare to Nearby Cities
| City | Average Salary | Cost of Living Index | Real Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tucson, AZ | $85,000 | 92 | $92,391 |
| Scottsdale, AZ | $112,000 | 110 | $101,818 |
| Las Vegas, NV | $98,000 | 102 | $96,078 |
Local Market Outlook
Demand Level
Steady growth driven by healthcare IT, cloud/DevOps modernization, fintech expansion, and a continuing shift to remote/hybrid roles; peaks when semiconductor and finance firms open project ramps.
Top Employers
Key Industries
How Phoenix cost of living affects .NET developer purchasing power
Phoenix’s slightly below-average cost-of-living index (about 98) means a . NET developer’s paycheck stretches further here than in coastal tech hubs.
Typical market rents for a one-bedroom in central neighborhoods like Roosevelt Row or Downtown range $1,400–$1,700/month; suburban areas such as Gilbert or Mesa can be $1,100–$1,400. For a mid-level .
NET developer earning about $95k, monthly take-home (after taxes) commonly covers rent, car-related commuting costs (Phoenix is car-centric; budget $200–$400/month for gas and insurance depending on commute), and leaves reasonable discretionary income for dining and activities. Homebuyers face rising single-family prices compared to five years ago, so many mid-career developers opt to rent or buy in suburbs to balance mortgage and commute.
Employers frequently offset transport costs with parking stipends or partial transit benefits, and cloud-focused roles that allow remote work can increase effective purchasing power by reducing commute and childcare expenses.
Why Phoenix .NET salaries are at current levels
Phoenix’s . NET salary levels reflect a mix of regional demand and industry composition.
Large healthcare systems such as Banner Health and insurers are modernizing legacy . NET platforms and hiring for Azure-hosted microservices and API integrations.
Fintech and payments firms—American Express, PayPal regional teams, and local payments startups—need . NET engineers to build secure payment services and PCI-compliant APIs.
The semiconductor and enterprise hardware presence (Intel, Honeywell) drives embedded and backend systems work that often ties into . NET services for management tools.
Growth of cloud/SaaS startups in the Valley of the Sun increases competition for mid-level talent, pushing mid/senior pay up while keeping entry-level offers modest. Also, many companies price offers to be competitive with national remote salaries while reflecting Phoenix’s lower living costs, which establishes the typical $75k–$140k local range.
Comparing Phoenix to nearby cities and relocation considerations
Compared to Tucson (COL ~92), Phoenix pays about 15–25% more for . NET roles due to larger employer concentration and more enterprise accounts.
Scottsdale pays a premium (often 5–10% above Phoenix average) because of corporate HQs and higher local living costs—useful if you prioritize higher base pay and shorter commutes to Scottsdale offices. Las Vegas offers similar nominal salaries to Phoenix but a slightly higher COL (~102) and a more volatile hiring market tied to hospitality and gaming; tech roles there are concentrated in smaller clusters.
For commuting, daily drives from suburbs like Gilbert or Chandler are common; some . NET engineers living in nearby cities accept a small pay penalty for cheaper housing.
Remote work is widespread for . NET backend/Azure roles; remote-hybrid positions often pay Phoenix-equivalent salaries or closer to national benchmarks—negotiate location-based compensation if joining a coastal employer remotely.
Career progression and what accelerates pay growth locally
Typical progression for a . NET developer in Phoenix: entry (0–2 years) focusing on C#, ASP.
NET Core, SQL Server, and unit testing; mid (3–7 years) with ownership of services, cloud deployments (Azure), CI/CD pipelines, and some full-stack responsibilities; senior (8+ years) leading architecture decisions, mentoring teams, and driving cloud migrations or platform design. Accelerators: mastering Azure (App Services, Functions, AKS), microservices patterns, performance tuning for SQL/EF Core, and security (OWASP, identity/authorization).
Delivering measurable business outcomes—reducing API latency, leading a migration from on-prem IIS to Azure Kubernetes Service, or owning a payments integration—can move you from mid to senior faster (often 1–2 years quicker than baseline). Taking leadership or hybrid devops responsibilities often converts into staff/lead titles and a 15–30% salary bump locally.
Phoenix-specific negotiation tips for .NET developers
When negotiating, anchor to local midpoints: ask $90k–$105k for mid roles, $120k–$140k for senior engineering/architect roles depending on Azure and cloud architecture experience. Be specific: highlight Azure certifications, successful migrations (e.
g. , moved legacy ASP.
NET MVC to . NET Core on Azure App Services/AKS), or PCI/healthcare compliance projects.
Negotiate total comp—ask for signing bonus, relocation assistance if moving from out-of-state, and 401(k) matching. Typical benefits to press on: remote/hybrid flexibility (reduces commute costs), stipends for home office/cloud training, paid certifications, and CME/education budgets for healthcare-focused work.
Culture-wise, Phoenix teams value demonstrable project delivery and cross-functional collaboration; bring concrete metrics (uptime, throughput, reduced bug counts) rather than vague claims. If employer is remote-first from a high-cost market, request location-adjusted pay or a premium if you’re expected onsite frequently.
Related Tools
Sources & Methodology
How We Calculate Salary Data
Location-specific salary data is compiled from government statistics (BLS), employer-reported data, and verified employee submissions. Cost of living adjustments use COLI data from the Council for Community and Economic Research. All figures are cross-referenced across multiple sources and updated quarterly to reflect current market conditions.
Data last verified: January 2026
Data Sources
Official government occupational employment and wage statistics
Self-reported salary data from employees by location
Job posting salary data aggregated by metro area
Council for Community and Economic Research cost of living data
Regional compensation data and cost-of-living adjustments