Highest-paying Cities for Technical Writers

The top 100 highest paying cities for technical writers (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 technical writers in those cities are also shown in the table. As shown in the table, with a annual salary of $125,930, Southwest Maine nonmetropolitan area, Maine is the highest paying city for technical writers. It is followed by San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California (average annual salary $120,230). 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 technical writers in a specific city, use the links in the table.

Table 1. 100 Highest-paying cities/areas for Technical Writers

Rank	City/Area	Average Salary i	Entry Level Salary i	# of Empl. i
1	Southwest Maine nonmetropolitan area, Maine	$125,930	$68,160	30
2	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California	$120,230	$64,700	940
3	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, California	$116,050	$70,050	1,160
4	Trenton-Ewing, New Jersey	$115,640	$63,660	170
5	Durham-Chapel Hill, North Carolina	$112,140	$49,920	370
6	Lowell-Billerica-Chelmsford, New Hampshire	$108,000	$66,090	260
7	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, California	$103,280	$68,780	50
8	Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Massachusetts	$102,760	$68,490	1,730
9	Urban Honolulu, Hawaii	$102,610	$49,530	100
10	Worcester, Massachusetts	$100,790	$66,220	70
11	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, California	$100,710	$65,310	30
12	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, California	$99,670	$69,370	40
13	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Washington	$99,570	$58,720	1,100
14	Kennewick-Pasco-Richland, Washington	$98,980	$65,990	70
15	Olympia, Washington	$98,270	$55,650	30
16	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, Connecticut	$97,330	$53,380	220
17	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, California	$97,120	$61,380	1,430
18	Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Connecticut	$96,630	$53,310	160
19	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, District of Columbia	$96,010	$57,080	2,900
20	Bloomington, Indiana	$94,290	$50,200	30
21	Bellingham, Washington	$94,000	$55,200	40
22	New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, New York	$93,220	$61,790	2,260
23	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, California	$92,950	$61,810	110
24	Barnstable Town, Massachusetts	$92,150	$54,560	n/a
25	Nashua, New Hampshire	$91,810	$44,560	60
26	Los Alamos County, New Mexico	$91,430	$68,230	40
27	Augusta-Richmond County, South Carolina	$90,480	$64,850	90
28	San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, California	$90,270	$60,580	560
29	Baltimore-Towson, Maryland	$89,810	$58,710	830
30	Framingham, Massachusetts	$89,400	$60,930	380
31	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, Washington	$89,060	$51,520	470
32	Boulder, Colorado	$88,440	$58,470	250
33	California-Lexington Park, Maryland	$88,300	$68,840	100
34	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, New York	$88,280	$53,160	130
35	Bakersfield-Delano, California	$87,820	$59,030	50
36	Fort Collins-Loveland, Colorado	$87,310	$54,930	80
37	Northern New Mexico nonmetropolitan area, New Mexico	$86,950	$47,710	70
38	Vallejo-Fairfield, California	$86,890	$33,300	40
39	Norwich-New London, Rhode Island	$86,410	$71,460	130
40	Rockford, Illinois	$86,130	$45,040	30
41	New Haven, Connecticut	$85,410	$50,000	80
42	Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, Colorado	$85,000	$56,240	930
43	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	$84,990	$51,560	180
44	San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, California	$84,980	$61,000	710
45	Charlottesville, Virginia	$84,550	$46,380	60
46	Idaho Falls, Idaho	$84,340	$69,570	50
47	Charleston-North Charleston-Summerville, South Carolina	$83,720	$68,640	110
48	Waterloo-Cedar Falls, Iowa	$83,580	$30,380	30
49	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Georgia	$83,490	$58,490	690
50	Minneapolis-St Paul-Bloomington, Wisconsin	$83,450	$55,010	930
51	St Louis, Missouri	$83,440	$42,160	280
52	New York-White Plains-Wayne, New York	$83,350	$42,250	1,230
53	Bethesda-Rockville-Frederick, Maryland	$83,130	$50,200	710
54	Syracuse, New York	$82,990	$53,970	60
55	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, California	$82,720	$49,760	1,070
56	Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Massachusetts	$82,600	$54,720	1,420
57	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, California	$82,280	$52,270	30
58	Lawrence-Methuen-Salem, New Hampshire	$82,230	$52,340	30
59	Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville, California	$82,120	$57,140	210
60	Salisbury, Maryland	$82,080	$52,690	40
61	Raleigh-Cary, North Carolina	$82,010	$58,900	650
62	Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Goleta, California	$81,370	$40,990	70
63	Spartanburg, South Carolina	$81,340	$56,920	30
64	Baton Rouge, Louisiana	$81,260	$49,300	60
65	Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Washington	$81,160	$53,670	910
66	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, West Virginia	$81,060	$54,100	2,840
67	Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, Florida	$80,980	$40,070	60
68	Providence-Fall River-Warwick, Rhode Island	$80,720	$58,890	120
69	Bremerton-Silverdale, Washington	$80,150	$60,820	50
70	Chicago-Joliet-Naperville (IL-IN-WI Area), Illinois	$80,150	$47,970	870
71	Oakland-Fremont-Hayward, California	$80,140	$52,360	520
72	Kansas City, Missouri	$80,000	$49,520	320
73	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, California	$80,000	$54,360	160
74	West Central-Southwest New Hampshire nonmetropolitan area, New Hampshire	$79,860	$57,800	30
75	Alaska nonmetropolitan area, Alaska	$79,620	$43,980	70
76	Edison-New Brunswick, New Jersey	$79,620	$42,210	500
77	Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, Texas	$79,240	$58,240	810
78	Winston-Salem, North Carolina	$79,080	$49,260	70
79	Newark-Union, Pennsylvania	$79,060	$54,010	490
80	Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, Florida	$78,870	$52,250	140
81	Richmond, Virginia	$78,830	$51,170	270
82	Reno-Sparks, Nevada	$78,820	$52,740	50
83	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pennsylvania	$78,450	$48,250	970
84	Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas	$78,020	$49,980	730
85	Panama City-Lynn Haven-Panama City Beach, Florida	$77,650	$52,860	30
86	Spokane, Washington	$77,510	$46,500	70
87	Savannah, Georgia	$77,480	$59,760	40
88	Fargo, North Dakota	$77,450	$29,380	30
89	Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, South Carolina	$77,220	$54,490	450
90	Colorado Springs, Colorado	$77,110	$52,970	220
91	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, Florida	$77,050	$47,360	470
92	Columbus, Georgia	$77,040	$48,860	70
93	Columbia, South Carolina	$77,020	$48,960	50
94	Salem, Oregon	$77,010	$46,810	40
95	Jacksonville, Florida	$77,010	$55,170	280
96	Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, Virginia	$76,920	$49,900	390
97	Atlantic City-Hammonton, New Jersey	$76,900	$52,630	30
98	Fayetteville, North Carolina	$76,790	$45,690	50
99	Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, Wisconsin	$76,710	$51,250	190
100	Knoxville, Tennessee	$76,650	$52,510	140

See also: 💰 Highest paying industries for technical writers.