Wage increases for workers in tech areas like Silicon Valley, Seattle, and New York City are still much higher than the wages of workers outside the tech space, even when adjusted for the cost of living.
However, there are signs that as the cost of living continues to rise in these areas, wages may not be able to increase any further.
According to a survey by technology recruitment platform Dice, out of 10,705 workers in the U.S., Silicon Valley offered the highest average salary to technologists in 2017.
Respondents working in technology in Silicon Valley reported an average salary of $114,654 for the year. The cities with respondents reporting the next highest salaries were: Boston, New York, San Diego, Washington, and DC/Baltimore.
However, Silicon Valley also saw an unusually small annual increase in technologist salaries in 2017, with the rate reaching 0.4%. According to Dice CEO Mike Durney, Silicon Valley tech salaries have been increasing every year since 2006 and have seen annual increases of up to 4% over the past few years that Dice has been conducting this research.
On the other hand, many places where tech salaries are seeing higher levels of growth are areas not typically considered tech hubs in the U.S. The average tech salary in Philadelphia grew by 7.7% from 2016 to 2017, while salaries in Portland and Tampa grew by 6.5%.
But even with this growth spurt, respondents in Philadelphia reported an average salary of $97,415 – nearly $17,000 less than the average salary in Silicon Valley.
Of course, there's no sign that growth will continue – according to Dice, the average tech salary in Philadelphia fell 5% from 2015 to 2016.
According to the company that conducted the research, this happened because more high-paying jobs were added in Philadelphia last year, as technology businesses in the area grew exponentially.
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