Software Engineer Salary in New Mexico (2026)

Worth knowing: Sandia National Laboratories Albuquerque + Los Alamos National Laboratory LANL is one of the country's most distinctive concentrated US single-state DOE National Laboratory cleared cyber operations and a feature most national SE surveys understate for NM. Sandia (~11K Albuquerque cleared workforce + DOE National Nuclear Security Administration NNSA mission + the substantial post-2017 National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia NTESS Honeywell subsidiary M&O contractor + the substantial Sandia Z Machine pulsed-power facility ~80 million ampere current source for nuclear weapons physics + the substantial Sandia Microsystems Engineering Sciences and Applications MESA semiconductor fabrication + the substantial Sandia Tonopah Test Range NV + the substantial Sandia California Livermore satellite + the substantial Sandia cleared software + cyber engineering supporting nuclear stockpile stewardship + nuclear non-proliferation + national security + the substantial DOE Q clearance premium) operates substantial cleared SE work. LANL Los Alamos (~14K cleared workforce + DOE NNSA mission + nuclear weapon design + the substantial post-2018 Triad National Security LLC M&O contractor (Battelle + UC + Texas A&M consortium replacing Los Alamos National Security LLC) + the substantial LANL post-2024 plutonium pit production ramp toward ~30 pits/yr target supporting W87-1 warhead modernization + the substantial LANL Laboratory for High Energy Density Physics + the substantial LANL High Performance Computing + the substantial LANL cleared software + cyber engineering) operates substantial LANL cleared SE work. Senior cleared Sandia + LANL software engineers clear $125-285K+ TC with DOE Q clearance premium. Kirtland AFB Albuquerque (~21K total + the substantial AF Research Lab AFRL Space Vehicles Directorate + Directed Energy Directorate + the substantial AFRL space + laser + microwave weapons research + 377th Air Base Wing + 58th Special Operations Wing CV-22 Osprey + the substantial Kirtland-Sandia partnership) supports substantial Kirtland AFRL cleared cyber engineering. Intel Rio Rancho Fab 11X (the substantial Intel Rio Rancho semiconductor manufacturing + the substantial post-2021 Intel $3.5B+ Rio Rancho expansion supporting Intel Foundry Services + the substantial post-2022 CHIPS Act Intel manufacturing) supports substantial NM semiconductor manufacturing automation SE. Holloman AFB Alamogordo + Cannon AFB Clovis + White Sands Missile Range substantial cleared aerospace + ISR SE work. UNM School of Engineering + NM Tech + NMSU CS feed substantial NM cleared SE pipeline. NM progressive 1.7-5.9% top by 2026 (post-2022 HB 163 added 5.9% tier above $210K single / $315K MFJ) + NM is NOT a RTW state (substantial public + private sector collective bargaining preserved) + NM property tax ~0.74% (among LOWEST US averages) + no state estate tax + NM gross receipts tax ~5.125% state + local anchor the NM SE proposition.