Asia Tech Salary Index
Engineering pay across fifteen tech hubs in twelve Asian markets by role and seniority, benchmarked against Silicon Valley. Southeast Asia now uses remote contractor rates from our Southeast Asia Salary Guide 2026. Q3 2026 edition, updated October 2026.
India Sets the Pace, Southeast Asia Converges on Senior Rates
Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune posted the fastest pay growth we track, 17 to 26 percent year on year, and North Asia grew 5 to 12 percent from a higher base. Southeast Asia now comes from our Southeast Asia Salary Guide 2026: senior remote contractors in Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand charge international companies a median of $4,400 to $4,800 a month, and Singapore $14,100. Treating Asia as one labour market no longer works.
Year-on-year pay growth for AI and ML engineers in Bengaluru, the fastest of the eight hubs with prior-year salary data
Lower annual cost for five mid-level engineers contracted remotely in Manila than five employed in the Bay Area, before platform or employer costs
Tech hubs across twelve Asian markets, from Bengaluru and Manila to Tokyo and Seoul, each benchmarked against Silicon Valley
What Moved in Q3 2026
1. India's Hubs Are Pricing Like Global Engineering Centres
Senior AI and ML engineers in Bengaluru now clear six figures, and Hyderabad is close behind. The driver is the same in both cities: global capability centres and product companies hiring for AI work at scale, and bidding against remote international employers for the same senior engineers. Pune follows at a small discount with a deep enterprise and cloud bench.
India still has the widest spread of any market in the index. A strong mid-level engineer and a weak one can sit on the same salary, which makes screening, not price, the deciding step.
The ROI of Hiring in Asia Has Moved
Three reasons now sit ahead of cost for most buyers: access to specialised AI and cloud talent that is scarce in the US and EU, a development cycle that runs while the US sleeps, and English-speaking teams that slot into a US workflow. Cost is the fourth reason, not the first.
2. Southeast Asia Rates Converge at the Senior Level
The Southeast Asia rows in this edition are remote contractor rates: what engineers in Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore charge international companies for full-time remote work, taken from the 155 rate cards behind our Southeast Asia Salary Guide 2026. Outside Singapore, senior medians sit within $400 a month of each other, between $4,400 and $4,800. The spread opens lower down: mid-level medians run from $2,700 in the Philippines and Indonesia to $3,700 in Malaysia and Thailand.
At every level, full-stack rates in Vietnam and the Philippines come in 72 to 79 percent below Silicon Valley salaries. That sets a contractor rate against a salary, so add any platform or employer-of-record fee on the Southeast Asia side and employer contributions on the US side before using it as a budget.
3. North Asia Is Steady, and Singapore Is the Ceiling
Tokyo, Seoul, Taipei, Hong Kong and Shanghai grew between 5 and 12 percent. Singapore is the most expensive hub in the index: senior remote contractors there charge a median of $14,100 a month. These markets hire for specific depth, such as semiconductors in Taipei, gaming and consumer apps in Seoul, and quantitative finance in Hong Kong, rather than for scale.
For a US company building a team, they tend to work best for one or two senior specialists, with a delivery team in India or Southeast Asia around them.
Remote Hiring Settled Rather than Reversed
Remote and hybrid arrangements sit at 48 percent of the global workforce and have stopped moving in either direction. That equilibrium is what makes cross-border engineering hiring a normal operating decision rather than a pandemic artefact.
Hybrid dominates, with most employers landing on two or three remote days. The candidate side is less ambiguous: flexibility is now a screening criterion rather than a benefit.
Salary Benchmarks by Role and Market
Annual USD. India, North Asia and Silicon Valley rows are full-time salaries, annual gross, Q2 2026 data, with employer contributions, bonus and equity on top. Southeast Asia rows are remote contractor rates from our Southeast Asia Salary Guide 2026: the monthly median times 12, rounded to the nearest $1,000. Pick a role to compare markets.
AI and ML Engineer Salaries
| Market | Junior (0-2 yrs) | Mid (3-5 yrs) | Senior (5-8 yrs) | YoY | Senior vs SV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IndiaSalaries, Q2 2026 data | |||||
| Bengaluru | $46,000 | $78,000 | $118,000 | +24% | 49% less |
| Hyderabad | $42,000 | $72,000 | $110,000 | +22% | 53% less |
| Pune | $38,000 | $65,000 | $100,000 | +20% | 57% less |
| Southeast AsiaRemote contractor rates, monthly rate x 12 | |||||
| Ho Chi Minh City and HanoiVietnam | $28,000 | $37,000 | $66,000 | n/a | 72% less |
| ManilaPhilippines | $22,000 | $32,000 | $56,000 | n/a | 76% less |
| JakartaIndonesia | $18,000 | $32,000 | $74,000 | n/a | 68% less |
| Kuala LumpurMalaysia | $38,000 | $44,000 | $76,000 | n/a | 67% less |
| BangkokThailand | $35,000 | $44,000 | $78,000 | n/a | 66% less |
| Singapore | $114,000 | $138,000 | $223,000 | n/a | 4% less |
| North AsiaSalaries, Q2 2026 data | |||||
| TaipeiTaiwan | $45,000 | $72,000 | $108,000 | +12% | 53% less |
| SeoulSouth Korea | $48,000 | $74,000 | $110,000 | +10% | 53% less |
| TokyoJapan | $58,000 | $88,000 | $130,000 | +8% | 44% less |
| Hong Kong | $72,000 | $110,000 | $158,000 | +7% | 32% less |
| ShanghaiChina | $70,000 | $105,000 | $150,000 | +11% | 35% less |
| BenchmarkSalaries, Q2 2026 data | |||||
| Silicon Valley | $130,000 | $170,000 | $232,000 | +8% | Baseline |
Southeast Asia: senior is the guide’s AI and ML engineer median for each market; junior and mid are market-level medians across all roles. No year-on-year figure is shown for Southeast Asia: this is the first edition on remote contractor rates, so there is no like-for-like prior number.
Full-Stack Developer Salaries
| Market | Junior (0-2 yrs) | Mid (3-5 yrs) | Senior (5-8 yrs) | YoY | Senior vs SV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IndiaSalaries, Q2 2026 data | |||||
| Bengaluru | $34,000 | $56,000 | $82,000 | +20% | 58% less |
| Hyderabad | $31,000 | $52,000 | $76,000 | +19% | 61% less |
| Pune | $29,000 | $48,000 | $70,000 | +17% | 64% less |
| Southeast AsiaRemote contractor rates, monthly rate x 12 | |||||
| Ho Chi Minh City and HanoiVietnam | $28,000 | $37,000 | $54,000 | n/a | 72% less |
| ManilaPhilippines | $22,000 | $32,000 | $55,000 | n/a | 72% less |
| JakartaIndonesia | $18,000 | $32,000 | $53,000 | n/a | 73% less |
| Kuala LumpurMalaysia | $38,000 | $44,000 | $56,000 | n/a | 71% less |
| BangkokThailand | $35,000 | $44,000 | $58,000 | n/a | 70% less |
| Singapore | $114,000 | $138,000 | $169,000 | n/a | 13% less |
| North AsiaSalaries, Q2 2026 data | |||||
| TaipeiTaiwan | $34,000 | $54,000 | $80,000 | +8% | 59% less |
| SeoulSouth Korea | $36,000 | $56,000 | $84,000 | +7% | 57% less |
| TokyoJapan | $44,000 | $66,000 | $98,000 | +6% | 50% less |
| Hong Kong | $52,000 | $80,000 | $112,000 | +5% | 43% less |
| ShanghaiChina | $46,000 | $70,000 | $96,000 | +6% | 51% less |
| BenchmarkSalaries, Q2 2026 data | |||||
| Silicon Valley | $104,000 | $148,000 | $195,000 | +6% | Baseline |
Southeast Asia: the guide has no full-stack family, so junior, mid and senior are all market-level medians across all roles. No year-on-year figure is shown for Southeast Asia: this is the first edition on remote contractor rates, so there is no like-for-like prior number.
Cloud and DevOps Engineer Salaries
| Market | Junior (0-2 yrs) | Mid (3-5 yrs) | Senior (5-8 yrs) | YoY | Senior vs SV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IndiaSalaries, Q2 2026 data | |||||
| Bengaluru | $38,000 | $62,000 | $90,000 | +26% | 58% less |
| Hyderabad | $35,000 | $58,000 | $84,000 | +24% | 60% less |
| Pune | $32,000 | $53,000 | $78,000 | +22% | 63% less |
| Southeast AsiaRemote contractor rates, monthly rate x 12 | |||||
| Ho Chi Minh City and HanoiVietnam | $28,000 | $37,000 | $54,000 | n/a | 75% less |
| ManilaPhilippines | $22,000 | $32,000 | $55,000 | n/a | 74% less |
| JakartaIndonesia | $18,000 | $32,000 | $73,000 | n/a | 66% less |
| Kuala LumpurMalaysia | $38,000 | $44,000 | $72,000 | n/a | 66% less |
| BangkokThailand | $35,000 | $44,000 | $56,000 | n/a | 74% less |
| Singapore | $114,000 | $138,000 | $192,000 | n/a | 9% less |
| North AsiaSalaries, Q2 2026 data | |||||
| TaipeiTaiwan | $38,000 | $60,000 | $88,000 | +10% | 58% less |
| SeoulSouth Korea | $40,000 | $62,000 | $92,000 | +9% | 57% less |
| TokyoJapan | $50,000 | $76,000 | $110,000 | +7% | 48% less |
| Hong Kong | $58,000 | $88,000 | $124,000 | +7% | 42% less |
| ShanghaiChina | $52,000 | $80,000 | $108,000 | +8% | 49% less |
| BenchmarkSalaries, Q2 2026 data | |||||
| Silicon Valley | $120,000 | $162,000 | $212,000 | +9% | Baseline |
Southeast Asia: senior is the guide’s DevOps and cloud engineer median for each market; junior and mid are market-level medians across all roles. No year-on-year figure is shown for Southeast Asia: this is the first edition on remote contractor rates, so there is no like-for-like prior number.
Total Annual Cost of a Five-Person Engineering Team
Five mid-level full-stack developers, three to five years, twelve months. Bay Area, Shanghai, Tokyo and Bengaluru bars are salary only. Singapore, Vietnam and Manila bars are remote contractor rates: the guide's mid-level monthly median, times 12, times five.
Rate and Salary Are Not the Whole Cost
Employer contributions, recruitment, equipment and any entity or employer-of-record cost sit on top of the salary bars, and any platform fee sits on top of the contractor bars. None of them scale down in the same proportion. Our 2026 regional report prices the same hire fully loaded, which changes the ranking between some regions entirely.
Hiring Velocity and Market Dynamics
Average time to hire
16 days
Two days faster than Q4 2025
Offer acceptance rate
89%
Up two points year on year
Remote job postings
48%
Stable at the post-2023 equilibrium
AI role demand growth
+52%
Year on year across Asia
The Skills Being Asked For
Share of technical job postings in Asia naming each skill.
Updated October 2026
The Wider Market Context
Four longer-running trends sit behind the Q3 2026 bands above. Each should shape a hiring plan in Asia, and each comes from a source we can point at.
AI Training Became a Job Title, Not a Task
Cross-border AI trainer roles grew 283% during 2025, and the Philippines and India are two of the five largest hiring locations for them worldwide. This is a category that did not exist as a distinct line item when the Q1 bands were collected, and it pays on its own curve, between $15 and $75 an hour.
India's Supply Is Growing Faster Than Anywhere on Earth
India added 5.2 million new developers to GitHub during 2025, roughly one in seven of every new developer worldwide, and passed the United States on total open-source contributors for the first time. Demand is still ahead of it: AI roles are forecast to exceed 1.25 million by 2027 against a supply gap near 51%.
Enrolment Is Running Ahead of Proficiency
India leads the world in generative-AI course enrolments, 2.6 million and up 107% year on year, while ranking 89th of 109 countries on Coursera's overall proficiency measure. Vietnam ranks 33rd. The gap is the screening problem every hiring plan in Asia now has to solve.
English Rankings Did Not Move the Way People Assume
On the 2025 EF English Proficiency Index the Philippines scores 569 and ranks 28th worldwide, ahead of every Latin American market except Argentina. Vietnam sits at 500, India at 484, Indonesia at 471. Country scores describe adult populations rather than engineers, but the relative ordering is stable year to year.
Regional Deep Dive
India
Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune hold the largest engineering bench in Asia, and the fastest-growing one on GitHub. AI, data and cloud roles lead pay growth, driven by global capability centres and remote hiring by foreign companies.
A four to five hour overlap with UK and European mornings is easy. US overlap needs an early or late shift agreed up front. Screening matters more here than anywhere else in the index because the range inside a single band is so wide.
Vietnam
Vietnam has become Asia's third-largest startup ecosystem, and the shortage of engineers is the defining feature of the market rather than a temporary condition. Senior remote contractors in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi charge international companies a median of $4,500 a month, and the competition for them is global rather than domestic.
English is strong at the senior end, and a four to six hour overlap with the earlier part of a US day makes real-time collaboration workable without anyone working through the night.
Philippines
English fluency is the best in the region and among the best in the world, which is why Philippine engineers are consistently over-represented in customer-facing product work, technical writing and now AI training. E-commerce and fintech demand has grown fastest.
Cybersecurity and cloud are the fastest-growing role families. Attrition runs higher than the regional average, so retention needs to be designed in rather than assumed.
Indonesia
The largest domestic market in Southeast Asia, with a young engineering base growing quickly and a senior AI bench that is still thin relative to India or Vietnam. That combination makes it strong for scaling mid-level teams and harder for a single senior hire.
Jakarta concentrates the e-commerce, payments and logistics engineering work. Junior remote contractors there have the lowest median rate in the guide, $1,500 a month.
Malaysia and Thailand
Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok have the highest junior and mid-level rates in Southeast Asia outside Singapore, with mid-level medians of $3,700 a month in both. Senior medians close most of that gap, at $4,700 and $4,800. Kuala Lumpur has good English and a growing base of regional hubs and data centres. Bangkok's strengths are fintech, e-commerce and mobile.
North Asia and Singapore
Singapore and Hong Kong are the regional pay ceiling and work best for leadership, regional headquarters and regulated finance roles. Tokyo and Seoul pay well below the Bay Area but hire mostly in Japanese and Korean, which narrows the pool for English-first teams.
Taipei is strong in hardware, semiconductors and embedded work. Shanghai has deep AI and product talent, though data rules and cross-border contracting add steps for foreign employers.
New · Southeast Asia Salary Guide 2026
Remote Contractor Rates in Six Southeast Asian Markets
Monthly rates for junior, mid, senior and lead engineers across eight role families, built from 155 rate cards, with what changes if you employ instead of contract.
Get the 2026 Salary GuidePrevious edition: Asia Tech Salary Index Q2 2026 (PDF)
| Market | Junior | Mid | Senior | Lead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vietnam | $2,300 | $3,100 | $4,500 | $5,300 |
| Philippines | $1,800 | $2,700 | $4,550 | $5,050 |
| Indonesia | $1,500 | $2,700 | $4,400 | $5,050 |
| Malaysia | $3,200 | $3,700 | $4,700 | $5,600 |
| Thailand | $2,900 | $3,700 | $4,800 | $5,600 |
| Singapore | $9,500 | $11,500 | $14,100 | $15,900 |
Method
Two bases in one index. India, North Asia and Silicon Valley rows are salaries, collected 1 April 2026 to 30 June 2026 and carried over unchanged from the Q2 2026 edition. India bands are anchored on the Remote (Working for International Clients) ranges on our developer rate cards. Tokyo, Seoul, Taipei, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Silicon Valley are benchmarked on public job-board postings and employer offers for the same roles.
Southeast Asia rows. Southeast Asia rows (Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore) come from the Second Talent Southeast Asia Salary Guide 2026: the monthly USD rates remote contractors charge international companies, taken from 155 Southeast Asia rate cards. They are contractor rates, not salaries and not local pay. Each figure is the median monthly rate times 12, rounded to the nearest $1,000. Contractors invoice and carry their own tax and social security, so a rate and a salary are not the same thing.
Role and level detail. For Southeast Asia, junior and mid are market-level medians across all roles, not role-specific. Senior is role-specific for AI and ML and for cloud and DevOps, and market-level for full-stack, which the guide does not split out. The guide's floors apply: $2,500 a month at mid level and $4,300 at senior and lead.
What is excluded. For salary rows: employer social contributions, bonus, equity, recruitment fees and equipment. Employer burden alone runs from roughly 5 percent in India at senior pay to roughly 20 percent in China, which is enough to reorder two offers that look equal on salary. For contractor rows: any platform or employer-of-record fee.
Seniority. Junior is nought to two years and mid is three to five. Senior is five to eight years in the Southeast Asia rows and six or more in the salary rows; the guide's lead band, eight years or more, appears in the guide table above. Titles are unreliable across these markets, so bands are assigned on scope of ownership rather than job title.
Limits. These are market ranges, not a census, and the rate-card figures are published ranges, not a salary survey. The spread inside a single market is wider than the gap between some of the markets listed. Use the index to compare markets, then benchmark the specific role before making an offer.
Sources
- 01 Second Talent placement and offer data, 1 April to 30 June 2026.
- 02 Second Talent, Southeast Asia Salary Guide 2026: remote contractor rates from 155 Southeast Asia rate cards across Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore, October 2026.
- 03 Second Talent developer rate cards, Remote (Working for International Clients) ranges, September 2026.
- 04 Deel, State of Global Hiring Report 2026, covering over one million worker contracts across 150+ countries.
- 05 GitHub Octoverse 2025, The State of the Octoverse.
- 06 Coursera Global Skills Report 2025, 109 countries.
- 07 EF English Proficiency Index 2025, 123 countries and regions, 2.2 million test takers.
- 08 NASSCOM and Deloitte, India AI talent demand and supply analysis.
- 09 TopDev and ITviec, Vietnam IT Market and Salary Report 2025-2026.
- 10 Public job-board postings across the North Asia hubs covered, aggregated quarterly.
Related
- Southeast Asia Salary Guide 2026 remote contractor rates in six markets
- LATAM vs CEE vs Asia for hiring AI engineers fully loaded cost across three regions
- All research and PDFs every report and country guide
- Developer rate cards hourly and annual rates by role and market
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