The launch of Apple’s Vision Pro headset has put virtual reality (VR) at the forefront of the tech conversation yet again. Although companies such as Meta have spent years (and billions of dollars) iterating in the space, Apple’s entry could compel even more software engineers, designers, and other skilled folks to consider designing and launching VR-friendly apps.

Many of those software engineers interested in VR likely have one question: how much does it pay? According to levels.fyi, which crowdsources its compensation data, median total compensation for a software engineer specializing in VR and augmented reality (AR) is $295,950; those in the 90th percentile can earn more than $510,000 once you combine salary, bonuses, and stock options.

Last April, a Washington Post report suggested that Meta’s AR/VR engineers were earning anywhere from $600,000 to $1 million, depending on their seniority and specialization. The niche nature of AR/VR impacts salaries: If you’re one of the relatively few people who have mastered the tools and techniques necessary to build excellent VR and AR apps and services, you have significant leverage in any kind of negotiation over compensation.

If you want to learn VR development, review Meta’s massive developer site, which gives you access to the tools and documentation for its VR platform. If you’re interested in Apple’s Vision Pro, review the VisionOS SDK; you should also learn ARKit (the company’s augmented-reality toolkit), Unity’s developer tools, Apple’s Xcode app-building toolkit (including Reality Composer Pro), and the Swift and Objective-C programming languages.) 

Should the VR market actually take off, keep in mind that it could have the paradoxical effect of lowering average and median salaries for VR and AR specialists; the more tech professionals enter a field, the more talent available to companies, putting downward pressure on compensation. However, a rapidly exploding market can also generate more jobs, so hopefully it all balances out.