A vertical cavity surface emitting laser includes: an active layer including a quantum well structure including one or more well layers including a III-V compound semiconductor containing indium as a group III constituent element; an upper laminated region containing a carbon dopant; and a substrate for mounting a post including the active layer and the upper laminated region, in which the active layer is provided between the upper laminated region and the substrate, the quantum well structure has a carbon concentration of 2×1016 cm−3 or less, and the upper laminated region includes a pile-up layer of indium at a position away from the active layer.