{"h1":"Best cities for software and engineering jobs in the Pacific Northwest","faq":[{"a":"Seattle has the most software and engineering openings in the Pacific Northwest: 1,720 openings, in a market where engineering is 34% of openings across all cities in our data.","q":"Which city ranks first: best cities for software and engineering jobs in the pacific northwest?"},{"a":"14 cities have at least 30 engineering openings, so the list has 14 entries.","q":"How many cities are ranked?"},{"a":"A city is ranked on the number of its open professional roles classed in the engineering function, which includes software, hardware and data engineering. Median engineering pay uses only listings that post a salary, and is shown only where at least 8 do. Cities need at least the minimum number of engineering openings to be 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.","q":"How is the ranking calculated?"},{"a":"Every month. This is the November 2026 edition. Older editions stay on this site at their own dated addresses.","q":"How often is it updated?"}],"lead":"Seattle has the most software and engineering openings in the Pacific Northwest: 1,720 openings, in a market where engineering is 34% of openings across all cities in our data.","minN":30,"rows":[{"n":1720,"key":"WA|seattle","sub":"WA","href":"/places/washington/city/seattle","name":"Seattle","rank":1,"stats":[{"label":"Share of all openings","value":"32%"},{"label":"Median engineering pay","value":"$200k"},{"label":"All openings","value":"5,347"}],"value":1720,"change":null,"employers":["Amazon","Blue Origin","Shield AI"],"valueLabel":"1,720 openings"},{"n":679,"key":"WA|redmond","sub":"WA","href":"/places/washington/city/redmond","name":"Redmond","rank":2,"stats":[{"label":"Share of all openings","value":"59%"},{"label":"Median engineering pay","value":"$209k"},{"label":"All openings","value":"1,150"}],"value":679,"change":null,"employers":["Amazon","SpaceX","Microsoft"],"valueLabel":"679 openings"},{"n":413,"key":"WA|bellevue","sub":"WA","href":"/places/washington/city/bellevue","name":"Bellevue","rank":3,"stats":[{"label":"Share of all openings","value":"30%"},{"label":"Median engineering pay","value":"$211k"},{"label":"All openings","value":"1,395"}],"value":413,"change":null,"employers":["Amazon","TerraPower","Okta"],"valueLabel":"413 openings"},{"n":130,"key":"OR|portland","sub":"OR","href":"/places/oregon/city/portland","name":"Portland","rank":4,"stats":[{"label":"Share of all openings","value":"17%"},{"label":"Median engineering pay","value":"$138k"},{"label":"All openings","value":"785"}],"value":130,"change":null,"employers":["Oregon Health & Science University","Legacy Health","Keen Footwear"],"valueLabel":"130 openings"},{"n":102,"key":"OR|hillsboro","sub":"OR","href":"/places/oregon/city/hillsboro","name":"Hillsboro","rank":5,"stats":[{"label":"Share of all openings","value":"56%"},{"label":"Median engineering pay","value":"$177k"},{"label":"All openings","value":"183"}],"value":102,"change":null,"employers":["American Society for Microbiology","Washington County OR","Microsoft"],"valueLabel":"102 openings"},{"n":77,"key":"WA|kirkland","sub":"WA","href":"/places/washington/city/kirkland","name":"Kirkland","rank":6,"stats":[{"label":"Share of all openings","value":"49%"},{"label":"Median engineering pay","value":"$171k"},{"label":"All openings","value":"158"}],"value":77,"change":null,"employers":["Echodyne","Amazon","Google"],"valueLabel":"77 openings"},{"n":75,"key":"WA|kent","sub":"WA","href":"/places/washington/city/kent","name":"Kent","rank":7,"stats":[{"label":"Share of all openings","value":"51%"},{"label":"Median engineering pay","value":"$181k"},{"label":"All openings","value":"146"}],"value":75,"change":null,"employers":["Stoke Space","Cowboy Space","Amazon"],"valueLabel":"75 openings"},{"n":74,"key":"WA|everett","sub":"WA","href":"/places/washington/city/everett","name":"Everett","rank":8,"stats":[{"label":"Share of all openings","value":"40%"},{"label":"Median engineering pay","value":"$199k"},{"label":"All openings","value":"185"}],"value":74,"change":null,"employers":["Helion Energy","Fortive","TerraPower"],"valueLabel":"74 openings"},{"n":48,"key":"WA|bothell","sub":"WA","href":"/places/washington/city/bothell","name":"Bothell","rank":9,"stats":[{"label":"Share of all openings","value":"37%"},{"label":"Median engineering pay","value":"$150k"},{"label":"All openings","value":"129"}],"value":48,"change":null,"employers":["Verathon","IonQ","Koninklijke Philips"],"valueLabel":"48 openings"},{"n":47,"key":"WA|richland","sub":"WA","href":"/places/washington/city/richland","name":"Richland","rank":10,"stats":[{"label":"Share of all openings","value":"50%"},{"label":"Median engineering pay","value":"$128k"},{"label":"All openings","value":"94"}],"value":47,"change":null,"employers":["Battelle Memorial Institute (PNNL)","Sargent & Lundy","AKS Engineering"],"valueLabel":"47 openings"},{"n":39,"key":"OR|tualatin","sub":"OR","href":"/places/oregon/city/tualatin","name":"Tualatin","rank":11,"stats":[{"label":"Share of all openings","value":"47%"},{"label":"Median engineering pay","value":"Not enough pay data"},{"label":"All openings","value":"83"}],"value":39,"change":null,"employers":["LAM Research","AKS Engineering","Teradyne"],"valueLabel":"39 openings"},{"n":35,"key":"OR|beaverton","sub":"OR","href":"/places/oregon/city/beaverton","name":"Beaverton","rank":12,"stats":[{"label":"Share of all openings","value":"32%"},{"label":"Median engineering pay","value":"Not enough pay data"},{"label":"All openings","value":"111"}],"value":35,"change":null,"employers":["Ralliant","Apple","Software Specialists"],"valueLabel":"35 openings"},{"n":35,"key":"WA|vancouver","sub":"WA","href":"/places/washington/city/vancouver","name":"Vancouver","rank":13,"stats":[{"label":"Share of all openings","value":"23%"},{"label":"Median engineering pay","value":"Not enough pay data"},{"label":"All openings","value":"153"}],"value":35,"change":null,"employers":["HP","ZoomInfo","Ecolab USA"],"valueLabel":"35 openings"},{"n":33,"key":"OR|salem","sub":"OR","href":"/places/oregon/city/salem","name":"Salem","rank":14,"stats":[{"label":"Share of all openings","value":"28%"},{"label":"Median engineering pay","value":"$138k"},{"label":"All openings","value":"118"}],"value":33,"change":null,"employers":["Agility Robotics","Garmin","Northwest Human Services"],"valueLabel":"33 openings"}],"slug":"best-cities-for-software-engineering-jobs-in-the-pacific-northwest","unit":"openings","scope":{"id":"pacific-northwest","kind":"region","name":"Pacific Northwest"},"title":"Best cities for software and engineering jobs in the Pacific Northwest","family":"Work style","method":["A city is ranked on the number of its open professional roles classed in the engineering function, which includes software, hardware and data engineering.","Median engineering pay uses only listings that post a salary, and is shown only where at least 8 do. Cities need at least the minimum number of engineering openings to be 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."],"builtAt":"2026-11-02T22:01:52.820Z","edition":"2026-11","measure":"swe","sources":["NextChapter job data: open professional roles on employer career sites, verified in the last week"],"baseline":{"label":"all cities in our data","valueLabel":"34%"},"keyFacts":["#1 Seattle, WA: 1,720 openings","#2 Redmond, WA: 679 openings","#3 Bellevue, WA: 413 openings","14 cities ranked in the Pacific Northwest","Data as of November 2026"],"placeNoun":"cities","commentary":["The lead is wide: Seattle (1,720 openings) is well clear of Richland at #10 (47 openings).","Richland reaches #10 on a sample of 47 engineering openings, a smaller market than most of the top ten, so its rank can move more from month to month.","Seattle is the largest market in the top ten, with 1,720 engineering openings behind its figure.","Cities with fewer than 30 engineering openings are not ranked, and small differences between neighbouring ranks are not meaningful."],"license":"Free to use and share with a link to https://launchyournextchapter.com/rankings/best-cities-for-software-engineering-jobs-in-the-pacific-northwest"}