Job Search & Hiring
25 Best Paying Cities for Software Engineers
Glassdoor Team
Glassdoor Team | Author & Career Expert at Glassdoor | Jul 6, 2016
Just because you take home a bigger paycheck doesn’t mean you ‘earn more.’ It’s all relative to where you live. With high demand for software engineers in cities across the country, where do software engineers really get paid the most?
Given cost of living factors – including housing costs, transportation, food, recreation and more – Glassdoor is revealing the 25 Best Paying Cities for Software Engineers, by identifying the ‘real adjusted salary’ for software engineers in each city. ‘Real adjusted salary’ is determined by looking at the ratio of each city’s local median software engineer base salary to its official cost of living figures from the federal government. (Note, government figures compare the average cost of living price level in each city to the national average, which is set at 100).
[Related: Employers, learn the best ways to recruit software engineers: what to do and what not to do.]
To help you understand more, for example, a software engineer in San Diego, CA earns $100,000 per year, while a software engineer in Portland, OR earns $90,000. But when cost of living is factored in, the software engineer in Portland earns a 5.1% higher real salary ($89,374; #9) than the engineer in San Diego ($85,034; #19).
Which cities really pay software engineers the best? Check out the full results. Plus, further below, see more on how to get hired and our full methodology:
- Seattle, WA – See Open Jobs
- Real Adjusted Salary: $105,735
- +7.1% above national average cost of living
- Median Base Salary: $113,242
- Job Openings: 4,205
- San Jose, CA – See Open Jobs
- Real Adjusted Salary: $100,989
- +21.3% above national average cost of living
- Median Base Salary: $122,500
- Job Openings: 2,017
- San Francisco, CA – See Open Jobs
- Real Adjusted Salary: $99,751
- +20.3% above national average cost of living
- Median Base Salary: $120,000
- Job Openings: 2,232
- Madison, WI – See Open Jobs
- Real Adjusted Salary: $97,236
- -2.3% below national average cost of living
- Median Base Salary: $95,000
- Job Openings: 105
- Raleigh, NC – See Open Jobs
- Real Adjusted Salary: $94,142
- -4.4% below national average cost of living
- Median Base Salary: $90,000
- Job Openings: 416
- Austin, TX – See Open Jobs
- Real Adjusted Salary: $91,185
- -1.3% below national average cost of living
- Median Base Salary: $90,000
- Job Openings: 828
- Boston, MA – See Open Jobs
- Real Adjusted Salary: $90,171
- +10.9% above national average cost of living
- Median Base Salary: $100,000
- Job Openings: 1,965
- Sacramento, CA – See Open Jobs
- Real Adjusted Salary: $89,669
- +2.6% above national average cost of living
- Median Base Salary: $92,000
- Job Openings: 120
- Portland, OR – See Open Jobs
- Real Adjusted Salary: $89,374
- +0.7% above national average cost of living
- Median Base Salary: $90,000
- Job Openings: 412
- Atlanta, GA – See Open Jobs
- Real Adjusted Salary: $89,286
- -4.8% below national average cost of living
- Median Base Salary: $85,000
- Job Openings: 1,326
- Dallas-Fort Worth, TX – See Open Jobs
- Real Adjusted Salary: $88,294
- +0.8% above national average cost of living
- Median Base Salary: $89,000
- Job Openings: 1,376
- Durham-Chapel Hill, NC – See Open Jobs
- Real Adjusted Salary: $88,143
- -4.7% below national average cost of living
- Median Base Salary: $84,000
- Job Openings: 123
- Omaha, NE – See Open Jobs
- Real Adjusted Salary: $88,017
- -5.7% below national average cost of living
- Median Base Salary: $83,000
- Job Openings: 121
- Phoenix, AZ – See Open Jobs
- Real Adjusted Salary: $87,997
- -1.4% below national average cost of living
- Median Base Salary: $86,765
- Job Openings: 595
- Salt Lake City, UT – See Open Jobs
- Real Adjusted Salary: $87,262
- -0.3% below national average cost of living
- Median Base Salary: $87,000
- Job Openings: 248
- Denver, CO – See Open Jobs
- Real Adjusted Salary: $85,878
- +4.8% above national average cost of living
- Median Base Salary: $90,000
- Job Openings: 898
- San Antonio, TX – See Open Jobs
- Real Adjusted Salary: $85,696
- -5.9% below national average cost of living
- Median Base Salary: $80,640
- Job Openings: 151
- Charlotte, NC – See Open Jobs
- Real Adjusted Salary: $85,653
- -6.6% below national average cost of living
- Median Base Salary: $80,000
- Job Openings: 314
- San Diego, CA – See Open Jobs
- Real Adjusted Salary: $85,034
- +17.6% above national average cost of living
- Median Base Salary: $100,000
- Job Openings: 675
- Pittsburgh, PA – See Open Jobs
- Real Adjusted Salary: $84,926
- -5.8% below national average cost of living
- Median Base Salary: $80,000
- Job Openings: 473
- Houston, TX – See Open Jobs
- Real Adjusted Salary: $84,493
- +0.6% above national average cost of living
- Median Base Salary: $85,000
- Job Openings: 380
- Boulder, CO – See Open Jobs
- Real Adjusted Salary: $84,424
- +9.4% above national average cost of living
- Median Base Salary: $92,360
- Job Openings: 183
- Palm Bay-Melbourne, FL – See Open Jobs
- Real Adjusted Salary: $84,122
- -4.9% below national average cost of living
- Median Base Salary: $80,000
- Job Openings: 110
- Tucson, AZ – See Open Jobs
- Real Adjusted Salary: $83,248
- -2.7% below national average cost of living
- Median Base Salary: $81,000
- Job Openings: 60
- Huntsville, AL – See Open Jobs
- Real Adjusted Salary: $83,242
- -8.7% below national average cost of living
- Median Base Salary: $76,000
- Job Openings: 269
Glassdoor Team
Our team of savvy experts are here to help you, whether you’re navigating your career or working to make your company culture shine. Glassdoor has the unique insights and guidance you need to experience your best worklife. Stick around to learn how to prepare for an interview, negotiate your salary, develop DEI programs, engage your employees, understand the state of the job market, and more. Check out our community to share and learn from professionals just like you too.
Tags:Best Places to Work
