10 Top Tech Hubs For High Salaries

The latest Dice Tech Salary Report identifies the average salaries for tech jobs across the nation’s top technology hubs. How does your salary compare?

What’s In Your Paycheck?

Tech career marketplace Dice has released the 2022 edition of the Dice Tech Salary Report, including a look at the average tech job salary in the major tech hubs in the U.S. – both established hubs such as Silicon Valley and Seattle and up-and-coming technology centers such as Atlanta and Pittsburgh.

The report, based on Dice’s survey of tech professionals, found that the average tech salary now exceeds six figures, driven by the urgent need for tech talent caused by accelerated digital transformation initiatives, the mass move to hybrid and virtual work, and increased security concerns over the last two years.

According to Dice the average tech salary in the U.S. is now $104,566 – up $6,707 or 6.9 percent from 2020 to 2021 – the highest ever recorded in the Dice report. Despite the uncertain economy, the report also said that tech unemployment remained low through 2021, dipping to 2.1 percent in October.

There are other interesting takeaways in the report. While tech workers want traditional benefits like paid vacations, sick days, and health and dental insurance, increasingly they are also looking for work-from-home stipends and child/elder care options. And merit raises, rather than cost-of-living raises or company-wide salary increases, have become a more common way of raising tech employees’ salaries.

Altogether Dice calculated the average tech job salary in 25 tech hub cities and regions across the U.S. in 2021 and the percent change from 2020. Here is a look at the top 10 starting with the biggest tech job salaries. We close out in the last slide with a look at the tech hubs with the fastest-growing average tech salaries – some of which are not in the top 10 for average salaries.

10. Atlanta

Average Tech Job Salary: $107, 515

Change From 2020: Up 13.9 percent

Fast-growing Atlanta is increasingly seen as one of the country’s rising tech hubs. For workers, the 13.9 percent increase in average salary was the second highest among all 25 tech hubs covered in the Dice Report.

9. Austin

Average Tech Job Salary: $109,176

Change From 2020: Up 4.6 percent

Austin has been recognized as a fast-growing tech hub for a number of years now – not just for startups, but for some established companies like Oracle looking to escape California’s high costs. But its 2021 increase in average salary was on the low side.

8. Baltimore/Washington D.C.

Average Tech Job Salary: $112,697

Change From 2020: Up 2.9 percent

The Baltimore-Washington corridor is recognized as a key hub of tech development, fueled in part by U.S. federal government spending. But only four other tech hubs had slower salary growth in 2021.

7. Los Angeles

Average Tech Job Salary: $113,658

Change From 2020: Up 10.2 percent

L.A. may be better known for producing Hollywood films, but the city has been climbing up the list of tech hubs in recent years. In addition to its high average tech job salary, its 2021 average salary increase puts it in the top 10.

6. Denver

Average Tech Job Salary: $114,096

Change From 2020: Up 8.7 percent

The Denver/Front Range region is often recognized as a rising tech hub and that its No. 6 showing in average tech salary reflects that. Its tech salary growth rate – No. 11 among the 25 tech hubs in the Dice report – puts it in the middle of the pack.

5. San Diego

Average Tech Job Salary: $114,801

Change From 2020: Up 4.4 percent

San Diego was ranked a somewhat surprising No. 5 with its average tech salary that was right behind Boston. But its relatively slow salary growth was in the bottom third among all tech hubs.

4. Boston

Average Tech Job Salary: $114,959

Change From 2020: Up 3.5 percent

Boston is another long-time hub for technology development and that shows in its No. 4 ranking in average salary. But only five cities had slower salary growth last year than Boston.

3. New York

Average Tech Job Salary: $115,510

Change From 2020: Up 1.1 Percent

New York is increasingly seen as one of the country’s tech hubs and that’s reflected in its third-largest average salary for tech jobs. But it was among the bottom four tech hubs in terms of salary growth in 2021.

2. Seattle

Average Tech Job Salary: $118,729

Change From 2020: Up 11.2 percent

The home to tech giants like Amazon and Microsoft has the second-highest average salary for tech jobs. But it was in the top five in terms of salary growth.

1. Silicon Valley

Average Tech Job Salary: $133,204

Change From 2020: Up 5.0 percent

Silicon Valley, not surprisingly, pays the highest average salary for tech jobs in the U.S. But its comparatively low salary growth rate was in the bottom half among all tech hubs.

Fastest-Growing Average Tech Job Salaries

In addition to ranking the 25 leading tech hubs by their average tech job salaries, the Dice report lists the 10 hubs with the fastest-growing average salaries.

While Pittsburgh (pictured) was only No. 19 in average salary ($98,304) in 2021, the city was No. 1 in salary growth with a 14.0 percent increase from 2020. That was followed by Atlanta (13.9 percent), Chicago (12.6 percent), Miami (11.4 percent) and Seattle (11.2 percent).

Rounding out the top 10 in tech job salary growth were Philadelphia (10.6 percent), Tampa (also 10.6 percent), Detroit (10.3 percent), Los Angeles (10.2 percent) and Portland, Ore. (9.3 percent).

Houston, which was No. 17 in average tech salary ($100,341) in 2021, had the slowest salary growth – 0.6 percent – among all 25 tech hubs. But that was still better than Phoenix, No. 24 in average salary ($91,105) in 2021, which represented a 4.6 percent decline from 2020.

Note: Columbus, Ohio, was No. 25 on the tech hub list with an average salary of $86,375. But Dice was unable to calculate a percentage change from 2020 due to limited sample size from the 2020 survey data.