Best cities for marketing pay after cost of living
Key facts
- #1 San Jose, CA: $204k
- #2 Santa Clara, CA: $192k
- #3 San Francisco, CA: $170k
- 16 cities ranked in the United States
- Data as of November 2026
For comparison: $143k across the typical city in our data.
- 1San Jose CA$204k
- 2Santa Clara CA$192k
- 3San Francisco CA$170k
- 4Mountain View CA$168k
- 5San Mateo CA$162k
- 6Seattle WA$151k
- 7Arlington VA$151k
- 8Austin TX$150k
- 9Denver CO$144k
- 10New York NY$143k
What stands out
- The top ten is tightly packed: San Jose leads on $204k, and #10 New York is at $143k.
- New York is the largest market in the top ten, with 576 openings with pay posted behind its figure.
- Cities with fewer than 30 openings with pay posted are not ranked, and small differences between neighbouring ranks are not meaningful.
The top 25
- 1
San Jose CA
$204k
- Median posted pay
- $226k
- Local prices vs US average
- +10%
- Openings with pay posted
- 38
Hiring most here: Super Micro Computer, Advanced Micro Devices, Cisco Systems
Based on 38 openings.
- 2
Santa Clara CA
$192k
- Median posted pay
- $212k
- State prices vs US average
- +11%
- Openings with pay posted
- 25
Hiring most here: Pure Storage, Advanced Micro Devices, Amazon
Based on 25 openings.
- 3
San Francisco CA
$170k
- Median posted pay
- $196k
- Local prices vs US average
- +16%
- Openings with pay posted
- 441
Hiring most here: OpenAI, Anthropic, University Of California San Francisco Foundation
Based on 441 openings.
- 4
Mountain View CA
$168k
- Median posted pay
- $185k
- Local prices vs US average
- +10%
- Openings with pay posted
- 30
Hiring most here: Intuit, Waymo, Google
Based on 30 openings.
- 5
San Mateo CA
$162k
- Median posted pay
- $188k
- Local prices vs US average
- +16%
- Openings with pay posted
- 39
Hiring most here: Roblox, Verkada, Skydio
Based on 39 openings.
- 6
Seattle WA
$151k
- Median posted pay
- $168k
- Local prices vs US average
- +11%
- Openings with pay posted
- 53
Hiring most here: Amazon, Blue Origin, Shield AI
Based on 53 openings.
- 7
Arlington VA
$151k
- Median posted pay
- $153k
- State prices vs US average
- +1%
- Openings with pay posted
- 20
Hiring most here: Amazon, AWS, Bloomberg Industry Group
Based on 20 openings.
- 8
Austin TX
$150k
- Median posted pay
- $148k
- Local prices vs US average
- −2%
- Openings with pay posted
- 52
Hiring most here: Amazon, Advanced Micro Devices, Cloudflare
Based on 52 openings.
- 9
Denver CO
$144k
- Median posted pay
- $152k
- Local prices vs US average
- +6%
- Openings with pay posted
- 23
Hiring most here: True Anomaly, Blue Origin, Amazon
Based on 23 openings.
- 10
New York NY
$143k
- Median posted pay
- $162k
- Local prices vs US average
- +13%
- Openings with pay posted
- 576
Hiring most here: Amazon, Publicis Groupe, Morgan Stanley
Based on 576 openings.
- 11
Washington DC
$135k
- Median posted pay
- $148k
- Local prices vs US average
- +9%
- Openings with pay posted
- 75
Hiring most here: Anduril Industries, Shield AI, CACI International
Based on 75 openings.
- 12
Los Angeles CA
$132k
- Median posted pay
- $150k
- Local prices vs US average
- +14%
- Openings with pay posted
- 99
Hiring most here: K2 Space, Cedars-sinai Medical Center, Apex Space
Based on 99 openings.
- 13
Dallas TX
$131k
- Median posted pay
- $135k
- Local prices vs US average
- +3%
- Openings with pay posted
- 21
Hiring most here: Amazon, Shield AI, Texas Instruments
Based on 21 openings.
- 14
Chicago IL
$130k
- Median posted pay
- $135k
- Local prices vs US average
- +4%
- Openings with pay posted
- 96
Hiring most here: Publicis Groupe, Northern Trust, Confidential
Based on 96 openings.
- 15
Boston MA
$128k
- Median posted pay
- $139k
- Local prices vs US average
- +8%
- Openings with pay posted
- 65
Hiring most here: Vertex Pharmaceuticals, State Street, Confidential
Based on 65 openings.
- 16
New York NY
$124k
- Median posted pay
- $140k
- Local prices vs US average
- +13%
- Openings with pay posted
- 41
Hiring most here: Amazon, Publicis Groupe, Morgan Stanley
Based on 41 openings.
Full ranking
All 16 cities that qualified, with the figure each is ranked on.
| Rank | City | Score | Sample |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Jose CA | $204k | 38 |
| 2 | Santa Clara CA | $192k | 25 |
| 3 | San Francisco CA | $170k | 441 |
| 4 | Mountain View CA | $168k | 30 |
| 5 | San Mateo CA | $162k | 39 |
| 6 | Seattle WA | $151k | 53 |
| 7 | Arlington VA | $151k | 20 |
| 8 | Austin TX | $150k | 52 |
| 9 | Denver CO | $144k | 23 |
| 10 | New York NY | $143k | 576 |
| 11 | Washington DC | $135k | 75 |
| 12 | Los Angeles CA | $132k | 99 |
| 13 | Dallas TX | $131k | 21 |
| 14 | Chicago IL | $130k | 96 |
| 15 | Boston MA | $128k | 65 |
| 16 | New York NY | $124k | 41 |
How this ranking works
The score is the median posted annual salary (the midpoint of each posted range) for this job family in a city, divided by its local price level, with the United States at 100.
Price levels are the Bureau of Economic Analysis regional price parities for the city's metro area, or its state where no metro figure exists. Only cities with at least 20 listings in the family that post a salary are ranked.
A city where one employer posts more than 50% of its openings is not ranked, so a single company cannot decide a city's score.
Sample bar: cities with fewer than 30 openings are not ranked.
Sources: NextChapter job data: posted annual salary ranges; Bureau of Economic Analysis regional price parities 2024 (metro areas and states). Data as of November 2026.
Our job data covers professional roles on the career sites of employers we track, so figures describe that market, not every job. Spot an error? Tell us.
Questions
- Which city ranks first: best cities for marketing pay after cost of living?
- San Jose leads the United States for pay after the cost of living in this job family: its median posted salary buys what $204k buys at average US prices.
- How many cities are ranked?
- 16 cities have at least 30 openings with pay posted, so the list has 16 entries.
- How is the ranking calculated?
- The score is the median posted annual salary (the midpoint of each posted range) for this job family in a city, divided by its local price level, with the United States at 100. Price levels are the Bureau of Economic Analysis regional price parities for the city's metro area, or its state where no metro figure exists. Only cities with at least 20 listings in the family that post a salary are ranked. A city where one employer posts more than 50% of its openings is not ranked, so a single company cannot decide a city's score.
- How often is it updated?
- Every month. This is the November 2026 edition. Older editions stay on this site at their own dated addresses.
More rankings
Cite this ranking
NextChapter, “Best cities for marketing pay after cost of living,” November 2026 edition. https://launchyournextchapter.com/rankings/best-cities-for-marketing-pay-vs-cost-of-living
Link to it: <a href="https://launchyournextchapter.com/rankings/best-cities-for-marketing-pay-vs-cost-of-living">Best cities for marketing pay after cost of living (NextChapter, November 2026)</a>
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