Software developer salaries in Nigeria

A senior software engineer in Nigeria earns a median of about $9,194 a year (12,240,000 NGN). Here's pay by level and stack, contractor rates, and how Nigeria's hours line up with UK and US teams.

Senior salary: $9,194; median per year
Senior contractor: $34–$62; per hour
Overlap London: Full working day; UTC+01:00
Overlap New York: 2.5h; English: high

Salary by level

Level	NGN	USD	GBP
Junior (0–2 yrs)	2,810,000	$2,111	£1,662
Mid (3–5 yrs)	5,588,576	$4,198	£3,306
Senior (6+ yrs)	12,240,000	$9,194	£7,239

Annual medians. USD at the 2026-10-14 rate.

Senior salary by stack

Specialism	USD / year	Contractor / hr
Frontend	$7,907	$29–$53
Backend	$10,113	$37–$68
Mobile	$8,826	$33–$60
DevOps & Cloud	$11,033	$41–$74
Data & AI	$11,309	$42–$76

Country median adjusted by global specialism premiums (Stack Overflow 2025).

The Nigeria developer market

About 1,794,519 developers on GitHub (2026).
English proficiency: high (EF EPI rank 29).
Lagos is the main hub, and fintech is the anchor sector (Flutterwave, Paystack and others). Index.dev names Lagos as a hub for mobile, web and .NET talent.
The naira fell from about ₦800 to about ₦1,600 per USD after early 2024, so local-currency salaries swing a lot in USD terms. Many remote developers are paid in USD.
Local pay is widely dispersed: Paylab puts 80% of software engineers at ₦523K–₦3.1M per month (only 28 respondents).

Hiring from Nigeria?

Vetted engineers at about $30/hr all-in.

Contracts, payroll and compliance handled. A senior in-house hire costs about £48/hr loaded in the UK and $82/hr in the US.

Hire in Nigeria

FAQ

How much does a senior software developer earn in Nigeria?+

The median senior software engineer salary in Nigeria is about 12,240,000 NGN a year (about $9,194), against about $4,198 for mid-level and $2,111 for junior developers. Senior remote contractors typically charge $34–$62 an hour.

What is the time difference between Nigeria and the UK or US?+

Nigeria runs on UTC+01:00 in winter. A 09:00–17:30 working day there overlaps full working day with London and 2.5h with New York.

How much does it cost to hire a developer from Nigeria through OctogleHire?+

OctogleHire publishes one client rate: about $19/hr for a mid-level engineer and $30/hr for a senior, including vetting, contracts and payroll, with no placement fee. A comparable senior in-house hire costs about £48/hr loaded in the UK and $82/hr in the US.

Sources · Q4 2026

Method notes: Salaries are Lagos, not national, because no national Levels.fyi figure was retrievable: junior = p25 (₦2.81M), mid = median (₦5,588,576), senior = p75 (₦12.24M). PayScale NG (₦1.45M average base, 155 profiles) was rejected as stale after the devaluation. Contractor mid range: Jobbers $25 and Arc $53,658/2,080 ≈ $26, up to Upstack $45.67. Senior = mid × 1.35 (Lemon.io). Salary basis: Levels.fyi Lagos SWE, all levels, updated 2026-03-20.