The benefits of a good salary can be quickly negated by living in an expensive area. If you’re a software engineer, these cities offer the best overall pay after you take the cost of living into account.


The rankings, from Glassdoor, is based on each city’s “real adjusted salary,” which is determined by comparing each city’s local median base salary to the cost of living figures for that area determined by the federal government. Basically, you might have a higher salary in one city, but if it’s more expensive to live there you’re not really making more money. Here are the top five cities:



Seattle, WA: With a real adjusted salary of $105,735 and 4,205 job openings.

San Jose, CA: With a real adjusted salary of $100,989 and 2,017 job openings.

San Francisco, CA: With a real adjusted salary of $99,751 and 2,232 job openings.

Madison, WI: With a real adjusted salary of $97,236 and 105 job openings.

Raleigh, NC: With a real adjusted salary of $94,142 and 416 job openings.



San Jose and San Francisco might seem obvious because of Silicon Valley, but it’s interesting to see Seattle take the top spot. The median base salaries in California are better, but it all comes down to the cost of living in Washington. For places like Madison and Raleigh, the cost of living is actually lower than the national average, so you’re keeping a lot more of your hard-earned salary there. You can see the rest of the list, 25 cities in total, at the link below.


25 Best Paying Cities for Software Engineers | Glassdoor