Software engineering is already a lucrative career choice — in fact, last year the average salary for a software engineer inched even closer to $100,000.

But, it's important to keep in mind that salary often varies depending on where you live and work.

And, although you may be earning more money than you would be in a different city, that doesn't mean much if the cost of living is really high where you currently live.

That's why career website Glassdoor cross-referenced its salary data with official cost of living figures from the federal government to see where tech industry salaries go the furthest.

Specifically, Dr. Andrew Chamberlain, Glassdoor's chief economist, looked at salaries versus the cost of living for software engineers, programmer analysts, and systems administrators.

Seattle came out on top as the city where the cost of living was generally low but the salaries for tech industry workers are high.

Take a look at the table below, which ranks each city by their "real" salary, which takes into account the cost of living.