The Bulgarian IT sector remains one of the country’s highest-paying industries. According to a large-scale salary survey involving 3,809 professionals, the median monthly net salary in 2026 has reached €3,250, while the average monthly net salary stands at €3,394. Despite the changes seen in the global technology market over the past few years, Bulgaria continues to offer attractive career opportunities and competitive compensation packages for both experienced professionals and newcomers.
Which IT Professionals Earn the Highest Salaries?
Salary differences across IT roles remain significant. At the top of the ranking is the Vice President of Engineering position with a median monthly net salary of €9,250. It is followed by Head of Engineering (€6,250), Engineering Manager (€5,750), while CTOs and Software Architects both report median salaries of €5,250 per month.
Just below these executive positions are Tech Leads, Program Managers and DevSecOps Engineers, each with a median salary of €4,750. Machine Learning Engineers, Technical Project Managers, and other executive-level professionals earn around €4,250, while AI Engineers, Product Managers and Mobile Developers reach approximately €3,750 per month.
The largest group of engineering professionals falls within the €3,250 salary range. This includes Back-end Engineers, Full-stack Engineers, DevOps Engineers, Security Engineers, QA Managers, Delivery Managers, HR Managers, Marketing Managers and Product Owners. These roles represent the backbone of Bulgaria’s software industry and account for a substantial share of the surveyed workforce.
The next salary tier, around €2,750 per month, includes Front-end Engineers, Project Managers, QA Automation Engineers, BI Engineers, Data Engineers, Data Scientists, Game Developers, Operations Managers and Site Reliability Engineers.
Professionals earning around €2,250 include Business Analysts, Embedded Engineers, ERP/CRM Specialists, UX/UI Designers, Sales Managers and Customer Success Specialists.
The lowest median salaries reported in the survey are found among QA Engineers, System Administrators, IT Recruiters, Technical Support Specialists, HR Specialists, Marketing Specialists, SEO Specialists and Sales Representatives, with median earnings of approximately €1,750 per month. Support Specialists report a median salary of €1,250. However, these figures should not be viewed as salary ceilings. With additional experience, specialized expertise, or employment at international companies, professionals in these roles can achieve substantially higher compensation.
Overall, the survey highlights a clear trend: the greater the level of responsibility and business impact, the higher the salary. While technical expertise remains essential, employers increasingly reward leadership, strategic decision-making and the ability to build and manage high-performing teams.
Key Highlights
- Median monthly net salary across the IT sector: €3,250.
- Average monthly net salary: €3,394.
- Highest-paying technology: Golang.
- More than 57% of professionals receive an annual bonus.
- Approximately 16% receive equity, stock options, or company shares.
The article is based on Noble Hire 2026 salary survey https://salarysurvey.noblehire.io/