Noble Hire's Annual Survey Reveals: 3,811 Professionals, 52 Positions, and 26 Technologies, Broken Down by Experience, Location, Company Type, and Work Mode
The numbers tell the story of how the market itself is changing in 2026.
Average salary grew by 60% over 5 years, but growth is no longer happening for everyone.
The average net salary in the sector is €3,392 per month. For comparison, in the 2021 survey it was around €2,107. We see growth of over 60% over five years, or an average of about 10% per year.
The difference from 2022, however, is at the individual level. Back then, every single position was in demand and salaries grew relatively evenly.
Who sits at the top of the hierarchy?
The highest-paid positions remain executive roles. This year's survey, however, breaks them down into subcategories:
Data Engineer – average €12,500/month
VP of Engineering – average €9,250/month
CTO – average €8,882/month
This breakdown into categories shows us that employers are now looking for people who can manage teams, budgets, and complex engineering organizations.
What work mode do professionals use?
Location continues to influence pay, though less than before the pandemic. Perhaps the most telling fact in the entire survey is that 40.6% of respondents don't physically visit their workplace at all. Zero days in the office and fully remote work.
It's also interesting that 76.4% state that their employer has an office in Sofia, but right behind that, the second most frequent answer is "We don't have an office." Fewer than 12% are people who go to the office every single day of the week, because the old "9 to 5" model is now the exception rather than the rule.
AI and data make the biggest leap.
The rapid adoption of AI tools brings with it entirely new positions that companies are increasingly seeking.
If we had to point to one position that stands out in this year's survey, it's Data Scientist. The salary for this role has grown by 121% in just five years. Companies need people who can extract value from data with the help of AI, which is why their salaries are growing at double the pace.
Are Junior specialists at risk?
Over the past 7-8 years, fewer and fewer companies have been giving a chance to people without experience. The survey shows that this problem is now also affecting mid-level specialists with 3-4 years of experience.
Interest is increasingly shifting toward experienced professionals with strong soft skills, hands-on experience with AI tools, and leadership qualities — a combination that's impossible for younger specialists to offer.
Comparisons and breakdowns.
This is exactly where Noble Hire's tool is most useful, since it filters directly by position, technology, experience level, location, and company type, and the built-in AI search engine answers specific questions.
The survey clearly shows how the market is simultaneously "spreading out" geographically (more and more people working outside the traditional Sofia office) and "narrowing" in terms of entry access for new talent.
All data in this article is taken from Noble Hire's 2026 survey. Check out the full interactive tool here.
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