10 Cities Where Your IT Pay Is Worth The Most
Big paychecks are nice, but in some cities they only let you keep pace with the cost of living. In honor of Labor Day, we're highlighting the US metro areas that allow you to stretch your IT paycheck the farthest.
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If you're a graduate of one of the highest paying computer science programs in the US, you may feel you're living large compared to your peers. But where you live can matter as much as what you make when it comes to understanding how far your paycheck will go. Lucky for us, job-search site Glassdoor has us covered, providing information on the top 10 cities in the US based on cost of living.
To compile the results, Glassdoor used its database of salary reports in 28 major metro areas for three popular IT jobs: software engineers, programmer analysts, and system administrators. The organization then compared that salary to the cost of living numbers for each city to create a guide to how much your paycheck is really worth depending on where you live.
When you look at our list you'll see average salaries for these jobs in each city, followed by "real value" of that salary adjusted for cost of living -- what that salary is really worth in your city. In other words, if a city's average pay for a position was $100,000, and its cost of living was $5,000 above average, the "real value" of that salary will be listed as $95,000.
Here, we're ranking the cities based on Glassdoor's results for those working as software engineers, though we do include the rankings for the other two job titles studied by Glassdoor.
The good news is that, for the most part, the top 10 most paycheck-friendly cities are all nice places to live. Most of them would qualify as tech centers with a hot job markets. Still, a couple of cities on the list might will surprise you (check out number 6).
How'd California do? Does the expense of living in its fair cities outweigh the salaries? See for yourself. Then tell us in the comments section below whether you live in one of the cities on the list, or plan to move there now that you've seen this report.
Cost of Living Index: 111.6 (100 is average)
Software Engineer average salary: $105,704
What it's worth here: $94,717
Program Analyst average salary: $77,289
What it's worth here: $69,256
Systems Administrator average salary: $80,658
What it's worth here: $72,275
Cost of Living Index: 98.5
Software Engineer average salary: $93,931
What it's worth here: $95,362
Program Analyst average salary: $71,619
What it's worth here: $72,710
Systems Administrator average salary: $61,571
What it's worth here: $62,509
Cost of Living Index: 95.6
Software Engineer average salary: $92,272
What it's worth here: $96,519
Program Analyst average salary: $70,000
What it's worth here: $73,222
Systems Administrator average salary: $74,373
What it's worth here: $77,797
Cost of Living Index: 104.3
Software Engineer average salary: $101,632
What it's worth here: $97,442
Program Analyst average salary: $97,768
What it's worth here: $93,783
Systems Administrator average salary: $76,027
What it's worth here: $72,893
Cost of Living Index: 88.9
Software Engineer average salary: $86,785
What it's worth here: $97,621
Program Analyst average salary: $74,307
What it's worth here: $83,585
Systems Administrator average salary: $71,360
What it's worth here: $80,271
Cost of Living Index: 121.3
Software Engineer average salary: $122,520
What it's worth here: $101,006
Program Analyst average salary: $95,146
What it's worth here: $78,439
Systems Administrator average salary: $98,449
What it's worth here: $81,162
Cost of Living Index: 100.5
Software Engineer average salary: $102,099
What it's worth here: $101,592
Program Analyst average salary: $73,060
What it's worth here: $72,697
Systems Administrator average salary: $70,988
What it's worth here: $70,625
Cost of Living Index: 95.2
Software Engineer average salary: $98,008
What it's worth here: $102,950
Program Analyst average salary: $82,948
What it's worth here: $87,131
Systems Administrator average salary: $68,313
What it's worth here: $71,758
Cost of Living Index: 122.0
Software Engineer average salary: $130,687
What it's worth here: $107,121
Program Analyst average salary: $89,507
What it's worth here: $73,367
Systems Administrator average salary: $103,126
What it's worth here: $84,530
Cost of Living Index: 107.0
Software Engineer average salary: $115,067
What it's worth here: $107,540
Program Analyst average salary: $85,541
What it's worth here: $79,945
Systems Administrator average salary: $77,723
What it's worth here: $72,369
Does your city make it into the top 10? If not, you can check out the whole list to find where your city ranks. Tell us in the comments section below whether you'd consider moving to another city to get more value from your paycheck.
Does your city make it into the top 10? If not, you can check out the whole list to find where your city ranks. Tell us in the comments section below whether you'd consider moving to another city to get more value from your paycheck.
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