Best Cities for Tech Jobs

IT Wages in 10 of the World's Top Technology Markets

In the past year, rounds of layoffs have swept through Silicon Valley and many of the world's other centers of information technology. But wages for tech workers who remain employed—and for independent IT contractors—have largely been spared the cost-cutting, according to data BusinessWeek obtained from salary comparison Web site PayScale.

For each of following five metropolitan markets in the U.S. and five abroad, PayScale collected salary information entered on its site over the course of 2008 for 10 different professions in IT. While job pay in London and San Francisco was highest for most categories, what stands out is a positive correlation between local industry demand and wages. For example, software developers tend to make more money in Seattle, since such local companies as Microsoft (MSFT) and Amazon.com (AMZN) continue to pay top dollar for the best programming talent.

To see how the salaries for different tech jobs compare in all 10 cities, read on.

Highest IT Salaries: San Francisco, London

Figures from PayScale suggest, however, that pay levels may decline this year. Also in decline: bonuses

Even as some of the world's biggest IT employers trim staff to withstand the recession, wages for those who remain employed in tech appear to be holding up.

Pay for IT jobs is buoyant at companies that are eliminating staff since employees who keep their jobs "often are more senior people who cost a bit more" and work longer hours, says Al Lee, director of quantitative analysis at PayScale, a Web site that gathers information on salary info. "I wouldn't expect to see any downward trends in pay in these jobs." PayScale shared its information exclusively with BusinessWeek.com.

IT salaries are especially high in such markets as London and San Francisco, where big-name tech companies employ a large portion of the workforce, according to PayScale, which based its analysis on information entered on its site in 2008. Workers in major tech centers command earnings that average up to 33% more than the U.S. median, PayScale says.
The Valley Is Still Tops

Of the five U.S. markets included in the PayScale survey, San Francisco topped the list of average wages in each of 10 different job titles, including software developer and IT project manager. In the Bay Area, home to such Internet giants as Google (GOOG) and computer makers such as Apple (AAPL), software development managers ranked highest in pay, at $136,000 per year. The lowest-paid IT jobs in San Francisco are help desk specialists, who earn $53,300 a year, PayScale says.

Outside Silicon Valley, pay tends to be tied to demand in local industries. In Seattle, home to Microsoft (MSFT) and Amazon.com (AMZN), software developers make an average of $88,400, higher than in most places.

The salaries tracked by PayScale may not remain high in coming months, as laid-off workers find new IT jobs, in some cases settling for lower wages, Lee says. "I expect annual increases will be much more modest" next year, he says. Also weighing on increases is a noticeable decline in the size of bonuses reported on the site, PayScale says.
Growing Government Positions

Overall, new job postings are down about 35% since last year on Dice, an online job board for technology positions around the country. According to Tom Silver, Dice's chief marketing officer, new postings on the site for jobs in the Silicon Valley area have dropped about 50%, to 2,700, since January 2008.

One market not covered in PayScale's research is faring well on Dice. In the Washington-Baltimore corridor, job postings were flat at about 7,400, roughly the same level as a year ago. "This is attributed to the growing number of government or government-related positions" in tech, Silver says.

Outside the U.S., PayScale found stark differences in IT wages. In five tech-heavy markets—London, Sydney, Toronto, Singapore, and Bangalore—pay is highest in London. There, IT project managers make $107,000, a 30% premium over the median U.S. pay for the same position.

Meanwhile, in Bangalore, India, a help desk specialist makes only $10,700, or close to one-fourth what an average U.S. worker would make in the same role.
Sums Are Relative

Of course, IT job seekers have more to consider than just potential salary when deciding where to move. In tough times, it's especially important to consider the cost of living in a big city. PayScale found that experienced IT workers in Austin, Tex., have their median pay adjusted for cost of living, since about 90¢ has the same buying power in that city that $1 has, on average, across the country. By comparison, San Franciscans pay $1.74 to buy the same goods that the rest of the country buys with $1.

Moving from a low-wage area to one where pay is higher can sometimes work against employees. Explains Charles Geoly, managing director of executive recruiting firm Russell Reynolds: "If you have an individual who lives in Arizona, a place relatively hard hit by the downturn, and he or she is being recruited to Boston, a place that's not been hit quite as bad, the relative drop in equity value increases the switching cost for the employer." On the whole, Geoly says demand for his firm's services were down in 2008, but companies are still willing to pay nearly what they used to in order to fill their top posts with the best candidates.

Even during a recession, relative pay is less important to some job seekers than landing a satisfying job. According to PayScale's Lee, software developers who build video games at startups are less likely to be paid as much as someone who, for example, builds a new payroll system at a big corporation. "A lot of gaming companies tend to pay a little less than companies like IBM (IBM)," Lee says, "mostly because it's the kind of work people really like to be a part of."

City-by-city comparison of how IT salaries stack up around the world.


1. LONDON Managers



IT Project Manager: $107,000
Software Development Manager: $136,000
IT Architect: $131,000
Large IT employers: Logica, Laird, BAE Systems


LONDON Nonmanagers



Database Administrator: $86,800
Help Desk Specialist: $54,400
IT Consultant: $101,000
Network Administrator: $70,700
Software Developer: $92,200
Software Test Engineer: $74,700
System Administrator: $69,200

Large IT employers: Logica (LOG.L), Laird (LRD.L), BAE Systems (BAES.L)



2. SAN FRANCISCO Managers



IT Project Manager: $102,000
Software Development Manager: $136,000
IT Architect: $126,000
Large IT employers: Google, Intel, Apple


SAN FRANCISCO Nonmanagers



Database Administrator: $92,700
Help Desk Specialist: $53,300
IT Consultant: $90,600
Network Administrator: $72,500
Software Developer: $98,000
Software Test Engineer: $84,100
System Administrator: $72,100

Large IT employers: Google (GOOG), Intel (INTC), Apple (AAPL)



3. NEW YORK Managers



IT Project Manager: $97,500
Software Development Manager: $127,000
IT Architect: $122,000
Large IT employers: Verizon, Time Warner, Siemens


NEW YORK Nonmanagers



Database Administrator: $85,300
Help Desk Specialist: $48,900
IT Consultant: $87,300
Network Administrator: $62,200
Software Developer: $88,200
Software Test Engineer: $70,700
System Administrator: $62,400



4. SEATTLE Managers



IT Project Manager: $84,200
Software Development Manager: $120,000
IT Architect: $114,000
Large IT employers: Microsoft, RealNetworks, Amazon.com


SEATTLE Nonmanagers



Database Administrator: $83,200
Help Desk Specialist: $43,500
IT Consultant: $85,100
Network Administrator: $58,300
Software Developer: $88,400
Software Test Engineer: $73,500
System Administrator: $60,300

Large IT employers: Microsoft (MSFT), RealNetworks (RNWK), Amazon.com (AMZN)



5. CHICAGO Managers



IT Project Manager: $89,000
Software Development Manager: $117,000
IT Architect: $114,000
Large IT employers: Motorola, Boeing, BearingPoint


CHICAGO Nonmanagers



Database Administrator: $82,300
Help Desk Specialist: $43,300
IT Consultant: $83,500
Network Administrator: $55,700
Software Developer: $78,100
Software Test Engineer: $69,500
System Administrator: $59,400



6. AUSTIN, TEX. Managers



IT Project Manager: $84,900
Software Development Manager: $114,000
IT Architect: $106,000
Large IT employers: Dell, Freescale Semiconductor


AUSTIN, TEX. Nonmanagers



Database Administrator: $74,200
Help Desk Specialist: $38,300
IT Consultant: $82,500
Network Administrator: $58,700
Software Developer: $79,700
Software Test Engineer: $70,500
System Administrator: $61,500

Large IT employers: Dell (DELL), Freescale Semiconductor



7. SYDNEY Managers



IT Project Manager: $82,800
Software Development Manager: $111,000
IT Architect: $107,000
Large IT employers: Brambles, Optus, Accenture


SYDNEY Nonmanagers



Database Administrator: $64,700
Help Desk Specialist: $51,900
IT Consultant: $77,200
Network Administrator: $54,600
Software Developer: $68,400
Software Test Engineer: $57,500
System Administrator: $55,700

Large IT employers: Brambles (BXB.AX), Optus, Accenture (ACN)



8. TORONTO Managers



IT Project Manager: $59,100
Software Development Manager: $73,400
IT Architect: $72,400
Large IT employers: Nortel Networks, Rogers Communications, Celestica


TORONTO Nonmanagers



Database Administrator: $52,000
Help Desk Specialist: $31,700
IT Consultant: $52,400
Network Administrator: $39,600
Software Developer: $51,300
Software Test Engineer: $44,300
System Administrator: $38,900

Large IT employers: Nortel Networks (NRTLQ), Rogers Communications (RCI), Celestica (CLS)



9. SINGAPORE Managers




IT Project Manager: $43,100
Software Development Manager: $49,100
IT Architect: $55,200
Large IT employers: Flextronics, Singapore Telecommunications, WBL Corp.


SINGAPORE Nonmanagers

Database Administrator: $33,600
Help Desk Specialist: $19,900
IT Consultant: $34,300
Network Administrator: $27,500
Software Developer: $29,100
Software Test Engineer: $28,400
System Administrator: $28,500

Large IT employers: Flextronics (FLEX), Singapore Telecommunications (STEL.SI), WBL Corp. (WEAS.SI)



10. BANGALORE Managers



IT Project Manager: $24,400
Software Development Manager: $46,800
IT Architect: $34,500
Large IT employers: Wipro, Infosys, MphasiS


BANGALORE Nonmanagers



Database Administrator: $20,300
Help Desk Specialist: $10,700
IT Consultant: $17,600
Network Administrator: $12,700
Software Developer: $15,700
Software Test Engineer: $14,000
System Administrator: $10,700