Highest-paying Cities for Computer Programmers

The top 100 highest paying cities for computer programmers (ranked by average annual salary) are listed in Table 1. The entry level salary (as measured by the salary of the lowest 10% paid earners) and the number of employment of computer programmers in those cities are also shown in the table. As shown in the table, with a annual salary of $134,420, Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Washington is the highest paying city for computer programmers. It is followed by Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Washington (average annual salary $128,540). The salary and employment information is computed from data published by U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) in April 2023 [1]. For more salary information of computer programmers in a specific city, use the links in the table.

Table 1. 100 Highest-paying cities/areas for Computer Programmers

Rank	City/Area	Average Salary i	Entry Level Salary i	# of Empl. i
1	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Washington	$134,420	$77,960	8,950
2	Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Washington	$128,540	$78,310	9,510
3	Santa Fe, New Mexico	$124,100	$77,670	30
4	Charlottesville, Virginia	$116,610	$69,730	130
5	Los Alamos County, New Mexico	$114,680	$82,050	60
6	Olympia, Washington	$113,750	$72,970	150
7	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, California	$106,070	$68,730	6,350
8	Wenatchee-East Wenatchee, Washington	$105,880	$33,980	40
9	San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, California	$105,660	$59,050	4,600
10	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California	$105,640	$62,560	3,910
11	Barnstable Town, Massachusetts	$105,600	$46,990	60
12	San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, California	$105,170	$54,720	4,260
13	Oakland-Fremont-Hayward, California	$104,920	$46,670	2,930
14	Salinas, California	$104,280	$53,200	110
15	Raleigh-Cary, North Carolina	$103,100	$57,020	1,590
16	Northern New Mexico nonmetropolitan area, New Mexico	$102,150	$53,770	30
17	Bellingham, Washington	$100,880	$54,460	40
18	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, Connecticut	$100,590	$67,370	1,000
19	Vallejo-Fairfield, California	$98,650	$84,550	90
20	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, West Virginia	$98,260	$58,440	6,090
21	Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown, New York	$97,880	$37,270	170
22	Ithaca, New York	$97,730	$61,960	250
23	Pittsfield, Massachusetts	$97,230	$70,240	n/a
24	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, District of Columbia	$96,600	$58,010	7,560
25	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, California	$96,490	$63,130	220
26	Northeast Florida nonmetropolitan area, Florida	$95,190	$44,160	110
27	Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, Colorado	$94,830	$57,110	2,110
28	Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, South Carolina	$94,750	$59,530	2,030
29	Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Connecticut	$94,720	$53,260	1,400
30	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, California	$94,380	$60,610	230
31	Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, Iowa	$94,340	$66,480	850
32	Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Massachusetts	$94,330	$59,480	3,290
33	Huntington-Ashland, West Virginia	$94,200	$60,200	30
34	North Central West Virginia nonmetropolitan area, West Virginia	$94,030	$46,410	50
35	Richmond, Virginia	$93,810	$61,400	1,280
36	Atlantic City-Hammonton, New Jersey	$93,780	$56,080	110
37	California-Lexington Park, Maryland	$93,440	$56,970	170
38	Bethesda-Rockville-Frederick, Maryland	$93,040	$62,240	1,660
39	Northeastern Virginia nonmetropolitan area, Virginia	$92,990	$55,100	40
40	York-Hanover, Pennsylvania	$92,960	$65,230	210
41	Altoona, Pennsylvania	$92,960	$60,160	80
42	Huntsville, Alabama	$92,360	$52,430	2,680
43	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Georgia	$92,340	$53,620	4,380
44	Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, Alabama	$92,320	$36,200	70
45	Durham-Chapel Hill, North Carolina	$92,100	$61,040	1,330
46	Fort Collins-Loveland, Colorado	$92,090	$56,190	140
47	Southeast Alaska nonmetropolitan area, Alaska	$91,610	$61,200	140
48	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, California	$91,590	$55,910	160
49	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pennsylvania	$91,540	$56,570	6,020
50	Alaska nonmetropolitan area, Alaska	$91,450	$61,070	200
51	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, California	$91,380	$53,190	130
52	New Haven, Connecticut	$91,300	$53,880	270
53	Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Massachusetts	$91,130	$56,180	3,880
54	St Marys County, Maryland	$90,590	$51,750	120
55	Western Nebraska nonmetropolitan area, Nebraska	$90,580	$42,150	40
56	Bangor, Maine	$90,500	$54,810	90
57	Provo-Orem, Utah	$90,480	$53,080	970
58	Colorado Springs, Colorado	$90,240	$36,770	290
59	Tacoma, Washington	$90,210	$30,560	120
60	Visalia-Porterville, California	$89,840	$38,350	50
61	Chico, California	$89,680	$32,530	60
62	Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas	$89,320	$50,890	4,670
63	West Kentucky nonmetropolitan area, Kentucky	$89,080	$44,600	40
64	Upper Eastern Shore nonmetropolitan area, Maryland	$88,960	$50,220	30
65	Worcester, Massachusetts	$88,920	$69,370	220
66	Springfield, Massachusetts	$88,860	$58,850	330
67	Chicago-Joliet-Naperville (IL-IN-WI Area), Illinois	$88,550	$35,500	8,790
68	Norwich-New London, Rhode Island	$88,450	$30,630	100
69	Salem, Oregon	$88,360	$61,490	140
70	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, California	$88,100	$56,600	6,740
71	Roanoke, Virginia	$88,020	$32,580	140
72	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, California	$87,890	$59,350	9,390
73	Myrtle Beach-North Myrtle Beach-Conway, South Carolina	$87,870	$44,610	150
74	North Central Tennessee nonmetropolitan area, Tennessee	$87,590	$53,370	40
75	Amarillo, Texas	$87,440	$54,450	80
76	Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, Virginia	$87,430	$55,340	540
77	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, California	$87,430	$38,120	12,770
78	Northern Indiana nonmetropolitan area, Indiana	$87,260	$44,430	90
79	North Central Texas nonmetropolitan area, Texas	$87,090	$35,430	150
80	Bloomington, Illinois	$86,810	$41,420	80
81	Tucson, Arizona	$86,760	$58,660	630
82	Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Goleta, California	$86,710	$51,880	290
83	Southside Virginia nonmetropolitan area, Virginia	$86,620	$44,350	30
84	Syracuse, New York	$86,590	$54,190	740
85	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	$86,580	$55,740	1,640
86	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, Washington	$86,560	$49,370	2,160
87	Evansville, Kentucky	$86,480	$35,100	100
88	Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville, California	$86,300	$50,760	2,510
89	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas	$86,250	$53,850	9,280
90	Lewiston-Auburn, Maine	$86,200	$56,760	60
91	Portland-South Portland-Biddeford, Maine	$85,990	$54,340	380
92	Fresno, California	$85,780	$50,940	150
93	Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, California	$85,580	$32,500	4,750
94	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, California	$85,570	$48,130	730
95	Rockford, Illinois	$85,460	$48,080	100
96	Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood, Texas	$85,360	$56,120	480
97	South Florida nonmetropolitan area, Florida	$85,280	$41,570	40
98	Nassau-Suffolk, New York	$85,260	$36,480	2,270
99	Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, Arizona	$85,120	$53,970	2,520
100	Napa, California	$85,030	$64,950	40

See also: 💰 Highest paying industries for computer programmers.