Software engineers looking for a high base salary that still amounts to a substantial paycheck once cost of living is factored in should look no further than Seattle as the best paying spot in the country. According to Glassdoor’s ranking of the 25 best paying cities for software engineers, Seattle is No. 1.
With a “real adjusted salary” of $105,735, Seattle tops San Jose, Calif., ($100,989); San Francisco ($100,989); Madison, Wisc., ($97,236); and Raleigh, N.C., ($94,142) in Glassdoor’s top five.
Glassdoor, the jobs and recruiting website, determines real adjusted salary 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. Cost of living factors include housing, transportation, food, recreation and more.
Seattle is No. 3 for median base salary at $113,242. San Jose ($122,500) and San Francisco ($120,000) are one and two in that listing. Seattle also leads in number of software engineer job openings with 4,205 — a number that is derived from active job listings on Glassdoor as of June 20.
Seattle’s cost of living is 7.1 percent above the national average, according to Glassdoor. That looks pretty good when put up against Silicon Valley, where San Jose is 21.3 percent above and San Francisco is 20.3 percent above. Cities that made the top 25 list and rank best when it comes to cost of living are Huntsville, Ala., (No. 25, -8.7 percent); Charlotte, N.C., (No. 18, -6.6 percent); San Antonio, Texas, (No. 17, -5.9 percent); Pittsburg, Pa., (No. 20, -5.8 percent); Omaha, Neb., (No. 13, -5.7 percent).
Here’s the top 10. Check out Glassdoor for the complete list and methodology.
Seattle
- Real adjusted salary: $105,735
- 7.1 percent above national average cost of living
- Median base salary: $113,242
- Job openings: 4,205
San Jose, Calif.
- Real adjusted salary: $100,989
- 21.3 percent above national average cost of living
- Median base salary: $122,500
- Job openings: 2,017
San Francisco
- Real adjusted salary: $99,751
- 20.3 percent above national average cost of living
- Median base salary: $120,000
- Job openings: 2,232
Madison, Wisc.
- Real adjusted salary: $97,236
- -2.3% below national average cost of living
- Median base salary: $95,000
- Job openings: 105
Raleigh, N.C.
- Real adjusted Salary: $94,142
- 4.4 percent below national average cost of living
- Median base salary: $90,000
- Job openings: 416
Austin, Texas
- Real adjusted salary: $91,185
- 1.3 percent below national average cost of living
- Median base salary: $90,000
- Job openings: 828
Boston
- Real adjusted salary: $90,171
- 10.9 percent above national average cost of living
- Median base salary: $100,000
- Job openings: 1,965
Sacramento, Calif.
- Real adjusted salary: $89,669
- 2.6 percent above national average cost of living
- Median base salary: $92,000
- Job openings: 120
Portland, Ore.
- Real adjusted salary: $89,374
- 0.7 percent above national average cost of living
- Median base salary: $90,000
- Job openings: 41
Atlanta
- Real adjusted salary: $89,286
- 4.8 percent below national average cost of living
- Median base salary: $85,000
- Job openings: 1,326
