We Surveyed Software Developers About Building in the United States

Recently, the DEF team sent out a short survey to around ~40 companies in our network to better understand how software developers think about where in the world to work. Many in our industry will discuss how clearer rules and regulations enable software developers to build in America, but have there been any movements since January 2025? Are there trends emerging? 

So, we asked. 

75% of respondents said some part of their business has operated outside of the United States.  

Then we asked: why? 

• 62.5% of respondents said “lack of clarity in U.S. laws and regulations.”
• 37.5% of respondents said that “laws and rules were clearer in another country.” 

We inquired about whether or not these respondents had reshored any part of business or launched any new business operations in the United States since January 2025. 

• 37.5% of respondents said they launched new business operations in the United States. 
• 25% of respondents said they are still choosing to operate their entire business overseas, but 12.5% of respondents said they are “actively exploring how to onshore as much as possible.” 

Where are these businesses setting up shop? 

Miami, Florida; New York, NY; and Portland, Oregon were some of the locations mentioned. 

To conclude, we provided an open-ended question: “What is your reaction to the following statement? Clearer rules and regulations enable software developers to build in America.” Some highlights: 

• “Strongly agree”
• “Software development can happen anywhere and competition for engineering talent is global. The US cannot win the future unless software developers are categorically protected from malicious prosecution.”
• “Feel that it’s absolutely true”
• “Nobody wants to take a risk on the chess board changing.”
• “<3” 

We’d love to hear from you: Do these results resonate? Do you have a different opinion? 

If you’re a software developer who has thoughts on building in America or if you want to participate in this survey or future surveys, please email me at jennifer@defieducationfund.org.   

The survey was designed to be anonymous, but we gave companies the opportunity to share their name publicly, so thank you to Ledger, Miden, Monad Foundation, Remaster Inc, and Veda Labs for participating in this survey.