Dive Brief:
- Tech salaries are 27% higher in metropolitan cities of two million or more people as opposed to those with less than 250,000 residents, according to an Indeed report. When adjusted for the cost of living in major cities, tech salaries are still 5% higher compared to other places.
- Washington, Boston and Columbus, Ohio offer the highest wages for tech workers in a group of 30 metro areas with the most job postings compiled by Indeed. Boston tech workers make more than $105,000 annually followed by Washington professionals who make more than $102,000 and Columbus workers earning over $101,000.
- The Bay Area, Seattle and Austin, Texas have lower tech salaries when adjusted for cost of living. None of those cities made the top 10 for highest tech salaries for adjusted or unadjusted.
Dive Insight:
As flexible working conditions become more mainstream, tech talent is unafraid to take skills outside of Silicon Valley.
Where tech salaries are highest when adjusted for cost of living
| Metropolitan city | Adjusted | Unadjusted |
|---|---|---|
| Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | $105,700 | $118,100 |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA | $102,200 | $121,000 |
| Columbus, OH | $101,100 | $93,300 |
| Raleigh, NC | $100,500 | $96,700 |
| Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC | $100,200 | $94,000 |
| Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN | $99,400 | $91,400 |
| Pittsburgh, PA | $99,100 | $93,100 |
| San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX | $97,700 | $92,300 |
| Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI | $97,300 | $92,900 |
SOURCE: Indeed
While salaries might go further outside historical tech hubs like San Francisco and Seattle, the two cities remain the top two places for the overall tech talent market. Despite both cities struggling with costly living and social concerns like homelessness, they are home to the world's most influential companies.
Because the talent pool is rather shallow, professionals have looked to under-developed, "upstart" tech hubs, like Dayton, Ohio; Colorado Springs, Colorado; and Huntsville, Alabama, to grow.
The tech workforce added almost 261,000 jobs in 2018, totaling about 11.8 million technology jobs in the U.S., according to research from CompTIA. The increase in jobs was tied to changes in the modern infrastructure and businesses' reliance on software as a service.
Companies, regardless of location, are in need of skills in the cloud, hyper personalization and distributed technology models. To find it, states and cities have to make a case for attracting talent.
Last year California, Florida, Texas, North Carolina and Florida were the top five states for net tech employment gains. Companies are particularly looking for talent in college towns, especially in North Carolina and Texas.
College towns typically have more money to dedicate to projects with organizations or individual donors for sponsoring research. They also help established working professionals bridge the confidence gap as they advance in the tech market.
