These Are The 10 Best Cities For Software Engineers

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Whether you’re just starting out your career, or looking to make a move, it can be important to know what part of the country offers the best chance for your long term career prospects. And for a very common profession like Programmers, the regional differences can have a big impact on your salary and career options.

To help you make the best decision possible, we at Zippia wanted to look at the cities that offer programmers the most for their career. These are the cities across the US where programmers get paid well, relative to the cost of living, and jobs are plentiful.

So we did what we do best and dove into the numbers from the BLS to figure out which cities have the best opportunities for programmers.The result is this list of the best cities programmers:

So there you have it — Seattle is the best city when it comes to being a programmer.

And where should you consider avoiding if you’re a programmer? That would be Yakima.

Read on to see how we completed our research on the best cities for programmers and for more on the top ten cities.

How we determined the best cities to be a programmer?

Here at Zippia, we talk to a lot of people of all different backgrounds looking for jobs. Our research has concluded that there are two common things people want in a job:

Availability of jobs
Pay

So in order to find out the best cities for programmers in America we needed to figure out where the jobs are and how well programmers get paid. This led to the following criteria taken from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’s Occupational Employment Statistics for 2015:

Location quotient. A measure of how common a job is a given city.
Average annual salary.
Average annual salary for entry level work.

To make all the salary numbers more apples to apples across cities, we compared the salary data relative to the state’s cost of living.

This left us with enough data for 306 metro areas across the country. We then took the primary area of the metro and labeled that the ‘city’ for this analysis. So, for example, “Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA NECTA Division” became simply Boston.

In order to develop an overall ranking, we ranked each city for each criteria from 1 to 306 where 1 was the best.

We then averaged all the rankings for a city into a Job Score with the city having the lowest overall Job Score earning the distinction of being the best city for programmers in America.

So without further ado, let’s get into just what made each city so great for programmers.

1. Seattle, WA

Total Jobs: 11,970
Average Annual Salary: $123,490
Average Entry Level Salary: $77,040
Location Quotient: 3.71

2. Huntsville, AL

Total Jobs: 1,910
Average Annual Salary: $97,840
Average Entry Level Salary: $60,550
Location Quotient: 4.27

3. Austin, TX

Total Jobs: 3,780
Average Annual Salary: $90,500
Average Entry Level Salary: $54,000
Location Quotient: 1.94

4. St. Louis, MO

Total Jobs: 4,610
Average Annual Salary: $84,350
Average Entry Level Salary: $54,270
Location Quotient: 1.66

5. Columbus, GA

Total Jobs: 710
Average Annual Salary: $79,970
Average Entry Level Salary: $56,660
Location Quotient: 2.94

6. Albuquerque, NM

Total Jobs: 1,000
Average Annual Salary: $106,060
Average Entry Level Salary: $60,720
Location Quotient: 1.27

7. Durham, NC

Total Jobs: 1,320
Average Annual Salary: $84,640
Average Entry Level Salary: $55,290
Location Quotient: 2.19

8. Trenton, NJ

Total Jobs: 1,740
Average Annual Salary: $92,100
Average Entry Level Salary: $60,910
Location Quotient: 3.74

9. Birmingham, AL

Total Jobs: 1,960
Average Annual Salary: $78,440
Average Entry Level Salary: $48,980
Location Quotient: 1.87

10. San Francisco, CA

Total Jobs: 6,110
Average Annual Salary: $108,070
Average Entry Level Salary: $56,290
Location Quotient: 2.86

And that’s our list of the best cities for programmers

If you’re looking to start out your career as a programmer these are the cities that should be at the top of your list. You’ll find high pay, available jobs, and chances for career advancement.

If you’re curious, here are the worst cities to be a programmer in America:

Detailed List Of The Best Cities For Programmers

Rank	State	Average Salary	Entry Level Salary	# Of People
1	Seattle, WA	$123,490	$77,040	11,970
2	Huntsville, AL	$97,840	$60,550	1,910
3	Austin, TX	$90,500	$54,000	3,780
4	St. Louis, MO	$84,350	$54,270	4,610
5	Columbus, GA	$79,970	$56,660	710
6	Albuquerque, NM	$106,060	$60,720	1,000
7	Durham, NC	$84,640	$55,290	1,320
8	Trenton, NJ	$92,100	$60,910	1,740
9	Birmingham, AL	$78,440	$48,980	1,960
10	San Francisco, CA	$108,070	$56,290	6,110
11	Montgomery County, PA	$88,090	$51,180	4,730
12	Atlanta, GA	$84,690	$51,010	7,840
13	Fairbanks, AK	$92,980	$68,420	100
14	Charlotte, NC	$87,020	$52,000	2,700
15	Montgomery, AL	$76,210	$43,950	800
16	Boston, MA	$100,610	$60,450	4,620
17	Omaha, NE	$77,930	$47,700	2,240
18	San Antonio, TX	$94,520	$51,020	1,700
19	Anchorage, AK	$103,190	$57,370	320
20	Little Rock, AR	$68,020	$50,360	970
21	Philadelphia, PA	$82,940	$50,170	2,160
22	Auburn, AL	$82,940	$50,420	80
23	Provo, UT	$79,310	$43,780	740
24	Framingham, MA	$92,420	$56,510	970
25	Newark, NJ	$91,530	$51,810	4,340
26	Wilmington, DE	$85,000	$56,340	790
27	Silver Spring, MD	$95,180	$55,420	1,620
28	Boulder, CO	$97,720	$58,750	240
29	Charleston, SC	$75,040	$47,410	700
30	Minneapolis, MN	$80,820	$50,350	6,210
31	Kansas City, MO	$75,640	$41,690	3,440
32	Nashville, TN	$77,310	$51,360	1,390
33	Los Angeles, CA	$95,650	$55,780	7,340
34	Bellingham, WA	$98,150	$54,790	100
35	Vallejo, CA	$100,730	$65,060	150
36	Lake County, IL	$88,330	$43,420	1,530
37	Harrisburg, PA	$77,650	$44,770	1,100
38	Warner Robins, GA	$68,530	$50,830	220
39	Sacramento, CA	$81,680	$58,390	3,440
40	Miami, FL	$91,780	$52,730	1,460
41	Reading, PA	$78,930	$55,570	270
42	Bremerton, WA	$87,520	$63,600	90
43	Houston, TX	$88,740	$46,730	4,040
44	Chattanooga, TN	$76,290	$45,620	400
45	Jefferson City, MO	$68,920	$44,020	200
46	Reno, NV	$85,970	$48,390	430
47	California, MD	$89,000	$53,440	120
48	Dalton, GA	$70,410	$49,440	160
49	Columbia, SC	$70,800	$40,900	1,830
50	San Jose, CA	$93,940	$46,480	6,510
51	Portland, OR	$81,010	$48,590	2,370
52	Bridgeport, CT	$86,610	$57,140	1,400
53	Baltimore, MD	$88,720	$55,130	2,870
54	Denver, CO	$89,990	$50,770	2,130
55	Dallas, TX	$89,490	$37,550	7,680
56	Warren, MI	$73,040	$49,430	2,180
57	Columbus, OH	$73,480	$44,330	1,660
58	Lansing, MI	$80,080	$44,600	350
59	Indianapolis, IN	$71,300	$43,410	2,060
60	Winston, NC	$81,040	$53,410	270
61	Des Moines, IA	$74,120	$51,750	520
62	Tuscaloosa, AL	$79,480	$44,810	110
63	Palm Bay, FL	$86,090	$43,220	450
64	Ithaca, NY	$78,250	$57,930	240
65	New York, NY	$95,690	$48,550	18,460
66	Elizabethtown, KY	$74,050	$49,490	40
67	Lawrence, MA	$93,120	$53,230	150
68	Norwich, CT	$96,900	$54,780	190
69	Oakland, CA	$93,920	$46,050	2,800
70	Morgantown, WV	$75,590	$47,600	50
71	Lawton, OK	$67,010	$45,410	80
72	Jackson, MS	$72,070	$49,910	250
73	Springfield, IL	$78,840	$50,180	170
74	Bloomington, IN	$69,310	$40,590	190
75	Oxnard, CA	$99,840	$45,880	540
76	Lowell, MA	$85,430	$52,330	460
77	Elgin, IL	$72,500	$49,340	630
78	San Rafael, CA	$96,410	$45,550	220
79	Portsmouth, NH	$95,910	$43,960	160
80	Chambersburg, PA	$74,350	$53,860	70
81	Albany, NY	$76,210	$55,220	2,150
82	New Bern, NC	$75,880	$52,390	40
83	Spartanburg, SC	$81,550	$46,280	90
84	Allentown, PA	$78,230	$40,610	730
85	Danbury, CT	$83,430	$52,210	230
86	Raleigh, NC	$80,480	$36,390	1,610
87	Topeka, KS	$68,700	$50,220	150
88	Fort Worth, TX	$78,200	$41,140	1,470
89	New Orleans, LA	$73,300	$45,040	690
90	Gary, IN	$78,670	$50,170	130
91	Portland, ME	$69,720	$48,420	410
92	West Palm Beach, FL	$79,230	$45,330	960
93	Ann Arbor, MI	$71,900	$39,970	560
94	Phoenix, AZ	$83,030	$39,790	4,150
95	Corvallis, OR	$65,310	$53,010	70
96	Wilmington, NC	$80,480	$43,240	150
97	Salt Lake City, UT	$76,850	$30,690	2,410
98	Waco, TX	$75,890	$42,020	150
99	Chicago, IL	$77,510	$40,210	12,090
100	Salem, OR	$78,140	$52,350	150

Never miss an opportunity that’s right for you.

Author

Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.

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