Tech salaries are rising thanks to the demand for talent in nearly every industry. Salaries increased 2.3% between 2021 and 2022, bringing the average tech salary to $111,348 annually, according to 2023 Dice Tech Salary Report. Salaries vary by location, with technologists reporting the highest average salaries of $144,962 per year in Silicon Valley, the original tech hub.
But you don't have to live in Silicon Valley to earn a high-tech salary. There are many other cities that are considered growing tech hubs where technologists can earn higher than average salaries, often with a lower cost of living. Dice defines a growing tech hub as a city with universities and colleges to hire, venture funding opportunities, a strong social scene for networking and existing companies looking to hire talent.
These 10 cities are the fastest-growing tech hubs by salary, according to Dice.
1. Phoenix
Phoenix is home to the “silicon desert” and is quickly becoming a hot spot for the tech industry, with an emphasis on telecommunications, electronics manufacturing and aerospace. Operating costs in Phoenix are 36% lower than in California, according to the Phoenix Business Journal, making it an attractive spot for tech companies looking for a less expensive home base for headquarters. It is also the fifth largest data center market in the country, with “low risk of natural disaster, cheap power and a competitive colocation and cloud market.” Phoenix is home to technology companies such as ADP, Workiva, ServiceNow, Traffic Tech, BigTime Software and General Motors.
The average tech salary in Phoenix is $120,731 annually — a 26.2% increase from 2021, according to Dice.
2. Tampa, Florida.
Tampa alone accounts for 25% of Florida's tech jobs, with more than 50 IT and software companies located in the city and 2,000 more jobs expected to be added next year. Companies like Amazon, Infosys, IBM, Wipro, Apple, Oracle, Microsoft, Capgemini, Uber, Dell, Google and Salesforce all have offices in Tampa. The Tampa Bay Tech organization was founded over 21 years ago to connect the tech community in Tampa and has since grown into one of the largest networks for technologists. Tampa is also home to Embarc Collective, billed as the state's “fastest growing startup hub.” Embarc Collective raised a total of $107 million in venture capital last year, according to Tampa Magazine.
The average tech salary in Tampa is $120,900 annually — a 19% increase from 2021, according to Dice.
3. Columbus, Ohio
Columbus has always been attractive to businesses because of the area's diverse population, which has historically made it a popular test market for companies looking to launch new products. In recent years, it has become a hot spot for the tech industry, with companies such as Facebook and Amazon moving to the city. And Intel recently announced plans to build two chip factories just outside Columbus, bringing more than 3,000 jobs to the area. The city hasn't lost its draw as a place to test and launch new products—there's a growing startup community in Columbus. Between 2017 and 2021, investment in city startups began to peak, from $583 million in 2020 to over $1 billion, with half of the funding going to Olive, a healthcare technology company, and Path Robotics, an autonomous robotics company, according to TechCrunch.
The average tech salary in Columbus is $107,413 annually — a 15.7% increase from 2021, according to Dice.
4. Portland, Ore.
Nicknamed Silicon Forest, Portland is home to many high-tech companies such as Tektronix, Intel, Pixelworks, Hewlett-Packard, Xerox and Epson. While Intel's headquarters were located in California, beginning in the 1990s, the company moved its most advanced technical operations to Oregon, and it is now the company's largest operational hub. Other tech companies that have opened offices in Portland include Airbnb, Google, IBM, Amazon, Logitech, Apple, Nvidia, Oracle and Salesforce, among others.
The average tech salary in Portland is $127,734 annually — a 15.5% increase from 2021, according to Dice.
5. Charlotte, NC
Charlotte has been hailed as the tech hub of the South, with a rich community of healthcare, fintech and logistics startups. There is strong traction with tech jobs in the financial services industry as banking shifts more towards digital transformation. In October 2022, Lowe's opened a $153 million Tech Hub to drive innovation, attract top talent and accelerate digital transformation. Charlotte is home to tech companies such as Red Ventures, Credit Karma, EPAM Systems, Torc Robotics, Axios, Cisco, LendingTree and AvidXchange. Software engineers, web developers, IT support specialists, network administrators and architects, data scientists and cybersecurity professionals are in high demand, according to CompTIA.
The average tech salary in Charlotte is $118,465 annually — an 11.1% increase from 2021, according to Dice.
6. Miami
From 2020 to 2021, the number of tech workers moving to the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area increased by over 15%. Interest in the city increased during the pandemic, with people trying to escape the cold cities and ultimately deciding to stay. Some say Miami's growth as a tech hub is due in part to a simple Twitter exchange between Delian Asparukhoff, an entrepreneur disenchanted with Silicon Valley, and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez. Asparukhoff joked about Silicon Valley “moving” to Miami, and the mayor responded by asking how he could help. After that, Google searches for “Miami Tech” doubled amid the pandemic, and the city continued to gain momentum in the tech scene.
The average tech salary in Miami is $104,542 annually — a 10.6% increase from 2021, according to Dice.
7. Sacramento, California.
The City of Sacramento has been dedicated to clean technology and energy since 2005, is one of the top 10 cities adopting smart grid technology, and now owns approximately 25% of the Region's Clean Energy Technology installations. CleanStart, a nonprofit cleantech business accelerator in the Sacramento area, found a 96% increase in jobs, a 29% increase in income, and notes that said growth added 4,850 jobs and nearly $1 billion in revenue to the Sacramento region. It's close to the Bay Area, also known as Silicon Valley, but offers a better cost of living and has a growing base of millennial workers (28%) bolstering the workforce. Sacramento not only has a strong stake in clean technology and energy, but also in health sciences, biomedicine, electrical engineering, education, and the visual arts.
The average tech salary in Sacramento is $111,961 annually — a 9.7% increase from 2021, according to Dice.
8. Raleigh, NC
Tech companies have targeted Raleigh in recent years, thanks in part to the region's high-powered network infrastructure. North Carolina has also embraced tech development, promising Apple $846 million in funding over the next 39 years and becoming the first US state to incentivize esports after creating a $5 million grant fund. Apple has also pledged to invest $1 billion in a new campus in the “Research Triangle,” which includes nearby colleges and universities such as Duke, UNC Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University. Epic Games also announced plans to convert a defunct mall in nearby Cary, NC, into the company's new headquarters.
The average tech salary in Raleigh is $115,204 annually — a 9.4% increase from 2021, according to Dice.
9. Boston
Boston has become a popular tech hub in recent years, with companies such as Amazon, Google, IBM, Microsoft and Oracle opening offices in the city. Amazon recently opened a technology hub in the Seaport area, with space for more than 2,000 employees and more than 1,000 technology and corporate roles available. There is also a hot market for startups in the city and access to graduates from MIT, Harvard, BU, Tufts and Northeastern. VCs have relocated to the area to keep an eye on emerging startups, given the city's success rate with startups like Hubspot, Care.com, TripAdvisor and Wayfair.
The average tech salary in Boston is $130,399 annually — a 9% increase from 2021, according to Dice.
10. Seattle
Seattle has been the birthplace of some of the biggest tech companies in the world, such as Microsoft and Amazon. It now houses the headquarters of companies such as T-Mobile, Expedia, Nintendo of America and offices of companies such as Twitter, Zendesk, Facebook and Google. Twitter has opened a family-friendly community learning center called NeighborNest that offers residents and organizations access to technology and life skills. They offer programs like digital literacy classes, coding for kids classes, and other family-friendly events for locals, and Twitter employees can volunteer their time and expertise at NeighborNest and help develop future tech talent.
The average tech salary in Seattle is $129,456 annually — a 7.6% increase from 2021, according to Dice.
The Top 10 of 2022
- Pittsburgh (up 14.0%)
- Atlanta (up 13.9%)
- Chicago (up 12.6%)
- Miami (up 11.4%)
- Seattle (up 11.2%)
- Philadelphia (up 10.6%)
- Tampa (up 10.6%)
- Detroit (up 10.3%)
- Los Angeles (up 10.2%)
- Portland, Ore. (9.3% increase)
