Best cities for product pay after cost of living
Key facts
- #1 Santa Clara, CA: $224k
- #2 San Mateo, CA: $221k
- #3 Mountain View, CA: $208k
- 14 cities ranked in the United States
- Data as of November 2026
For comparison: $192k across the typical city in our data.
- 1Santa Clara CA$224k
- 2San Mateo CA$221k
- 3Mountain View CA$208k
- 4Bellevue WA$208k
- 5Austin TX$204k
- 6Sunnyvale CA$203k
- 7Palo Alto CA$200k
- 8San Francisco CA$195k
- 9New York NY$189k
- 10Seattle WA$184k
What stands out
- The top ten is tightly packed: Santa Clara leads on $224k, and #10 Seattle is at $184k.
- San Francisco is the largest market in the top ten, with 367 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
Santa Clara CA
$224k
- Median posted pay
- $248k
- State prices vs US average
- +11%
- Openings with pay posted
- 36
Hiring most here: Pure Storage, Advanced Micro Devices, Amazon
Based on 36 openings.
- 2
San Mateo CA
$221k
- Median posted pay
- $255k
- Local prices vs US average
- +16%
- Openings with pay posted
- 36
Hiring most here: Roblox, Verkada, Skydio
Based on 36 openings.
- 3
Mountain View CA
$208k
- Median posted pay
- $230k
- Local prices vs US average
- +10%
- Openings with pay posted
- 45
Hiring most here: Intuit, Waymo, Google
Based on 45 openings.
- 4
Bellevue WA
$208k
- Median posted pay
- $222k
- State prices vs US average
- +7%
- Openings with pay posted
- 22
Hiring most here: Amazon, TerraPower, Okta
Based on 22 openings.
- 5
Austin TX
$204k
- Median posted pay
- $200k
- Local prices vs US average
- −2%
- Openings with pay posted
- 45
Hiring most here: Amazon, Advanced Micro Devices, Cloudflare
Based on 45 openings.
- 6
Sunnyvale CA
$203k
- Median posted pay
- $225k
- State prices vs US average
- +11%
- Openings with pay posted
- 27
Hiring most here: Applied Intuition, Wayve, Amazon
Based on 27 openings.
- 7
Palo Alto CA
$200k
- Median posted pay
- $221k
- Local prices vs US average
- +10%
- Openings with pay posted
- 38
Hiring most here: SpaceX, Rivian Automotive, Stanford Health Care
Based on 38 openings.
- 8
San Francisco CA
$195k
- Median posted pay
- $225k
- Local prices vs US average
- +16%
- Openings with pay posted
- 367
Hiring most here: OpenAI, Anthropic, University Of California San Francisco Foundation
Based on 367 openings.
- 9
New York NY
$189k
- Median posted pay
- $213k
- Local prices vs US average
- +13%
- Openings with pay posted
- 273
Hiring most here: Amazon, Publicis Groupe, Morgan Stanley
Based on 273 openings.
- 10
Seattle WA
$184k
- Median posted pay
- $205k
- Local prices vs US average
- +11%
- Openings with pay posted
- 37
Hiring most here: Amazon, Blue Origin, Shield AI
Based on 37 openings.
- 11
Boston MA
$172k
- Median posted pay
- $187k
- Local prices vs US average
- +8%
- Openings with pay posted
- 44
Hiring most here: Vertex Pharmaceuticals, State Street, Confidential
Based on 44 openings.
- 12
Chicago IL
$156k
- Median posted pay
- $161k
- Local prices vs US average
- +4%
- Openings with pay posted
- 38
Hiring most here: Publicis Groupe, Northern Trust, Confidential
Based on 38 openings.
- 13
Los Angeles CA
$155k
- Median posted pay
- $176k
- Local prices vs US average
- +14%
- Openings with pay posted
- 28
Hiring most here: K2 Space, Cedars-sinai Medical Center, Apex Space
Based on 28 openings.
- 14
New York NY
$149k
- Median posted pay
- $168k
- Local prices vs US average
- +13%
- Openings with pay posted
- 23
Hiring most here: Amazon, Publicis Groupe, Morgan Stanley
Based on 23 openings.
Full ranking
All 14 cities that qualified, with the figure each is ranked on.
| Rank | City | Score | Sample |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santa Clara CA | $224k | 36 |
| 2 | San Mateo CA | $221k | 36 |
| 3 | Mountain View CA | $208k | 45 |
| 4 | Bellevue WA | $208k | 22 |
| 5 | Austin TX | $204k | 45 |
| 6 | Sunnyvale CA | $203k | 27 |
| 7 | Palo Alto CA | $200k | 38 |
| 8 | San Francisco CA | $195k | 367 |
| 9 | New York NY | $189k | 273 |
| 10 | Seattle WA | $184k | 37 |
| 11 | Boston MA | $172k | 44 |
| 12 | Chicago IL | $156k | 38 |
| 13 | Los Angeles CA | $155k | 28 |
| 14 | New York NY | $149k | 23 |
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 product pay after cost of living?
- Santa Clara leads the United States for pay after the cost of living in this job family: its median posted salary buys what $224k buys at average US prices.
- How many cities are ranked?
- 14 cities have at least 30 openings with pay posted, so the list has 14 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 product pay after cost of living,” November 2026 edition. https://launchyournextchapter.com/rankings/best-cities-for-product-pay-vs-cost-of-living
Link to it: <a href="https://launchyournextchapter.com/rankings/best-cities-for-product-pay-vs-cost-of-living">Best cities for product pay after cost of living (NextChapter, November 2026)</a>
Download the data: CSV · JSON. Free to use with a link back.
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