The country that provides the highest salary to tech workers is the United States of America, and more specifically Seattle. According to the most recent data from the US Bureau of Labor, tech workers in the Seattle area had an average annual salary of $279,084 in the third quarter of 2019. This amount is double the salary observed in any other professional sector in the region. It is worth noting that these figures do not include median incomes, a measure that would better indicate the monetary rewards that those working in the technology. Highly paid executives significantly affect the average.
Average salaries also include full compensation, such as stock and bonuses that tech companies to attract employees in a competitive job market.
The next sector , after technology and “information,” is so-called “professional and business services,” where workers had an average compensation of $97,396 annually in the third quarter of 2019. Across all industries, workers in King County, which contains Seattle and surrounding communities, earned an average of $94,328 annually in the third quarter of 2019. According to the BLS, wages earned by tech workers in Seattle fell 2.7% from the first quarter of 2018. Specifically, average weekly wages decline significantly when there is a large increase in workers earning below-average wages.
In Seattle, tech workers earn far more than economists in New York City. Economics is an industry that has long been synonymous with generous salaries and luxurious lifestyles. According to Bloomberg, Seattle tech workers earn 56% more than the average economist in New York City. In addition, the average annual salary in San Francisco, the tech hub, was about $118,196, up 7.6% year over year.
Seattle's technology industry has seen significant growth over the past decade, led by giants like Amazon and Microsoft, while also being bolstered by startups and mid-sized businesses.
Additionally, competition has forced employers to offer increasingly generous compensation and benefits packages. This is due to Seattle’s low unemployment rate. Average weekly wages increased in 350 of the nation’s 355 largest counties between 2018 and 2019, while across the nation, average wages rose to $1,093 per week in the third quarter of 2019, up 3.6% from 2018.
