Same Job Different Pay How US Cities Compare to San Francisco

Same job, different pay - here's how cities across the US stack up against San Francisco for startup salaries.

Data from over 1 million startup employees who work at companies using Carta today.

𝗧𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝟭 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽 𝗖𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀

• Only 3 places where pay is at the maximum rate: San Francisco, San Jose, and New York City.

𝗡𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗧𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗲𝘀

• Seattle WA (97% of SF currently)

• Bridgeport CT (95%)

• Washington DC (93%)

• Boston MA (92%)

𝗕𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘀 (𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰 𝘁𝗼 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱)

• Jacksonville FL (5% closer to SF)

• Cincinnati OH (up 4%)

• Charleston SC (up 4%)

• Kansas City MO (up 4%)

𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲?

Maybe! Obviously having a higher starting salary is nice.

But if the cost of living outweighs the salary bump, you may be spending more to live in the tech hubs than you would outside the major ecosystems. Factoring in rent, etc makes the picture less clear.

Other point - many of these cities are getting closer to SF pay rates (slowly). The disparity shrunk during the Covid times and has yet to re-expand. I don't think we'll ever get to a point where everyone makes the same pay regardless of where they live however.

Counterpoint - density of jobs matters. With startup hiring on the decline broadly, being in SF means being exposed to more job opportunities almost by default.

Many compensation / HR teams at bigger startups (which may have offices in multiple locations) are not quite this granular. They will group the cities they hire in into a few tiers, pay each tier a slightly adjusted rate, and go from there.

Give me a shout if your city is not represented in the graphic and I'll let you know where you stand 🙏

Happy startup job hunting!

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