Tech Hub Salaries Go Furthest In Charlotte: Indeed

Tech workers seeking to stretch their salaries the furthest fare best in Charlotte, according to a survey by Indeed.

“It’s the dilemma that tech workers face: the jobs pay well, but tech hubs are pricey,” Jed Kolko, chief economist at Indeed Hiring Lab, said in the report.

While tech salaries are highest in hubs such as Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Austin and Seattle, these cities aren’t the same good deal found in Charlotte and Atlanta, where tech salaries turn out to be higher after cost of living adjustments, Indeed said.

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“For tech jobs, cost-of-living differences are especially important. Silicon Valley and the rest of the Bay Area have just about the highest living costs in the country, and other tech hubs, like metro Washington, DC, and Baltimore, are expensive too. By contrast, Austin and Raleigh, NC, are significantly cheaper,” the report said. “That $100,000 tech job will get you more bedrooms, avocado toasts, and climbing-gym memberships in central Texas than in coastal California.”

To find the cities where tech workers find the best deal, Indeed looked at the average salary of tech jobs using salary information posted on its site between August 2016 and July 2017 in 25 metro areas in the U.S., then adjusted for cost of living.

This study found that the adjusted salaries were highest in Charlotte, at $108,178. The second highest adjusted salary was in Atlanta, at $104,454.

“In these metros, the actual posted tech salaries aren’t especially high—they’re below those in Chicago, Baltimore and Austin. But living costs in Charlotte and Atlanta are below the national average and far below the typical tech hub,” the Indeed report said. “That pushes what might seem like ho-hum paychecks to the top in adjusted tech salaries.”

Here are the top 10 metro areas where tech salaries go the furthest, according to Indeed:

• Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, N.C.-S.C.
• Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, Ga.
• Austin-Round Rock, Texas
• San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, Calif.
• Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash.
• San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif.
• Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas
• Raleigh, N.C.
• Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, Mich.
• Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz.

You can find Indeed’s report here.

Photo by Pixabay

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