NextChapter

Cities that post pay most often

San Mateo leads the United States for pay transparency: 64% of its professional openings state a salary, against 20% across all cities in our data.November 2026 edition. Updated monthly, from open jobs we verified on employer career sites.

Key facts

  • #1 San Mateo, CA: 64%
  • #2 Somerville, MA: 61%
  • #3 Long Beach, CA: 53%
  • 100 cities ranked in the United States
  • Data as of November 2026

For comparison: 20% across all cities in our data.

  1. 1San Mateo CA64%
  2. 2Somerville MA61%
  3. 3Long Beach CA53%
  4. 4San Francisco CA50%
  5. 5Mountain View CA48%
  6. 6San Carlos CA46%
  7. 7Torrance CA44%
  8. 8Berkeley CA43%
  9. 9Redwood City CA43%
  10. 10Santa Ana CA42%

What stands out

  • The top ten is tightly packed: San Mateo leads on 64%, and #10 Santa Ana is at 42%.
  • San Carlos reaches #6 on a sample of 211 openings, a smaller market than most of the top ten, so its rank can move more from month to month.
  • San Francisco is the largest market in the top ten, with 11,776 openings behind its figure.
  • Cities with fewer than 200 openings are not ranked, and small differences between neighbouring ranks are not meaningful.

The top 25

  1. 1

    San Mateo CA

    64%

    Openings with pay posted
    565
    All openings
    887
    Median posted pay
    $233k

    Hiring most here: Roblox, Verkada, Skydio

    Based on 887 openings.

  2. 2

    Somerville MA

    61%

    Openings with pay posted
    173
    All openings
    282
    Median posted pay
    $145k

    Hiring most here: Formlabs, Tulip Interfaces, Generate Biomedicines

    Based on 282 openings.

  3. 3

    Long Beach CA

    53%

    Openings with pay posted
    446
    All openings
    838
    Median posted pay
    $155k

    Hiring most here: Relativity Space, Rocket Lab, Vast

    Based on 838 openings.

  4. 4

    San Francisco CA

    50%

    Openings with pay posted
    5,934
    All openings
    11,776
    Median posted pay
    $215k

    Hiring most here: OpenAI, Anthropic, University Of California San Francisco Foundation

    Based on 11,776 openings.

  5. 5

    Mountain View CA

    48%

    Openings with pay posted
    729
    All openings
    1,513
    Median posted pay
    $213k

    Hiring most here: Intuit, Waymo, Google

    Based on 1,513 openings.

  6. 6

    San Carlos CA

    46%

    Openings with pay posted
    97
    All openings
    211
    Median posted pay
    $195k

    Hiring most here: 1X Technologies, Joby Aviation, Natera

    Based on 211 openings.

  7. 7

    Torrance CA

    44%

    Openings with pay posted
    327
    All openings
    735
    Median posted pay
    $166k

    Hiring most here: Divergent Technologies, Valar Atomics, Neros

    Based on 735 openings.

  8. 8

    Berkeley CA

    43%

    Openings with pay posted
    103
    All openings
    238
    Median posted pay
    $166k

    Hiring most here: Form Energy, University of California, Berkeley, Rigetti Computing

    Based on 238 openings.

  9. 9

    Redwood City CA

    43%

    Openings with pay posted
    202
    All openings
    470
    Median posted pay
    $187k

    Hiring most here: Corcept Therapeutics, SB Energy, C3 AI

    Based on 470 openings.

  10. 10

    Santa Ana CA

    42%

    Openings with pay posted
    108
    All openings
    256
    Median posted pay
    $172k

    Hiring most here: Anduril Industries, First American Financial, Anduril

    Based on 256 openings.

  11. 11

    Westminster CO

    41%

    Openings with pay posted
    106
    All openings
    257
    Median posted pay
    $147k

    Hiring most here: CesiumAstro, BAE Systems, Loenbro

    Based on 257 openings.

  12. 12

    Foster City CA

    39%

    Openings with pay posted
    201
    All openings
    520
    Median posted pay
    $230k

    Hiring most here: Gilead Sciences, Zoox, Replit

    Based on 520 openings.

  13. 13

    Ann Arbor MI

    37%

    Openings with pay posted
    130
    All openings
    350
    Median posted pay
    $151k

    Hiring most here: May Mobility, Torc Robotics, Thomson Reuters

    Based on 350 openings.

  14. 14

    El Segundo CA

    35%

    Openings with pay posted
    334
    All openings
    946
    Median posted pay
    $160k

    Hiring most here: Chaos Industries, Radiant, Varda Space Industries

    Based on 946 openings.

  15. 15

    Washington DC

    34%

    Openings with pay posted
    1,514
    All openings
    4,428
    Median posted pay
    $161k

    Hiring most here: Anduril Industries, Shield AI, CACI International

    Based on 4,428 openings.

  16. 16

    New York NY

    34%

    Openings with pay posted
    6,894
    All openings
    20,410
    Median posted pay
    $165k

    Hiring most here: Amazon, Publicis Groupe, Morgan Stanley

    Based on 20,410 openings.

  17. 17

    Santa Clara CA

    34%

    Openings with pay posted
    513
    All openings
    1,522
    Median posted pay
    $208k

    Hiring most here: Pure Storage, Advanced Micro Devices, Amazon

    Based on 1,522 openings.

  18. 18

    Mundelein IL

    32%

    Openings with pay posted
    78
    All openings
    247
    Median posted pay
    $136k

    Hiring most here: Coda Search│Staffing

    Based on 247 openings.

  19. 19

    Fort Meade MD

    31%

    Openings with pay posted
    84
    All openings
    272
    Median posted pay
    $149k

    Hiring most here: Peraton, CACI International, Grvty

    Based on 272 openings.

  20. 20

    Quincy MA

    31%

    Openings with pay posted
    79
    All openings
    256
    Median posted pay
    $170k

    Hiring most here: State Street, Anduril Industries, Anduril

    Based on 256 openings.

  21. 21

    Menlo Park CA

    31%

    Openings with pay posted
    134
    All openings
    439
    Median posted pay
    $195k

    Hiring most here: Snowflake, Robinhood Ventures Fund I, Hippocratic AI

    Based on 439 openings.

  22. 22

    Milpitas CA

    30%

    Openings with pay posted
    77
    All openings
    256
    Median posted pay
    $160k

    Hiring most here: Cisco Systems, KLA, Psiquantum

    Based on 256 openings.

  23. 23

    Waltham MA

    30%

    Openings with pay posted
    173
    All openings
    580
    Median posted pay
    $194k

    Hiring most here: Boston Dynamics, Anduril Industries, Xometry

    Based on 580 openings.

  24. 24

    Sunnyvale CA

    30%

    Openings with pay posted
    463
    All openings
    1,555
    Median posted pay
    $210k

    Hiring most here: Applied Intuition, Wayve, Amazon

    Based on 1,555 openings.

  25. 25

    Mc Lean VA

    29%

    Openings with pay posted
    68
    All openings
    234
    Median posted pay
    $163k

    Hiring most here: Capital One, Booz Allen Hamilton, Sunrise Senior Living

    Based on 234 openings.

Full ranking

All 100 cities that qualified, with the figure each is ranked on.

RankCityScoreSample
1San Mateo CA64%887
2Somerville MA61%282
3Long Beach CA53%838
4San Francisco CA50%11,776
5Mountain View CA48%1,513
6San Carlos CA46%211
7Torrance CA44%735
8Berkeley CA43%238
9Redwood City CA43%470
10Santa Ana CA42%256
11Westminster CO41%257
12Foster City CA39%520
13Ann Arbor MI37%350
14El Segundo CA35%946
15Washington DC34%4,428
16New York NY34%20,410
17Santa Clara CA34%1,522
18Mundelein IL32%247
19Fort Meade MD31%272
20Quincy MA31%256
21Menlo Park CA31%439
22Milpitas CA30%256
23Waltham MA30%580
24Sunnyvale CA30%1,555
25Mc Lean VA29%234
26Boulder CO28%425
27Palo Alto CA28%1,234
28Fremont CA28%473
29Los Angeles CA28%5,101
30Irvine CA28%1,505
31Springfield IL27%280
32Lexington MA26%253
33Denver CO26%2,885
34Boston MA26%5,086
35Schaumburg IL26%215
36Alexandria VA25%576
37Sacramento CA25%1,362
38Brooklyn NY25%680
39Annapolis MD25%375
40Arlington VA24%1,978
41Manassas VA24%228
42White Plains NY24%221
43Oakland CA23%577
44Princeton NJ23%391
45Rockville MD23%358
46Louisville KY23%2,065
47Cambridge MA23%1,275
48Chicago IL22%7,617
49Newark NJ22%426
50Norfolk VA22%327
51Albany NY22%365
52Santa Monica CA21%307
53Reston VA21%782
54Buffalo NY21%415
55McLean VA20%1,167
56Broomfield CO20%285
57Bethesda MD20%441
58San Diego CA20%3,082
59Eden Prairie MN20%318
60Springfield VA20%269
61St. Louis MO20%529
62Newport Beach CA19%285
63San Jose CA19%2,383
64Culver City CA19%242
65Parsippany NJ19%230
66Herndon VA19%820
67Virginia Beach VA18%255
68Minneapolis MN18%1,285
69Seattle WA18%5,347
70Bellevue WA18%1,395
71Reno NV18%299
72Salt Lake City UT18%1,045
73Richmond VA17%1,133
74Alpharetta GA17%566
75Austin TX17%5,890
76Cleveland OH17%897
77Burlington MA16%268
78Ashburn VA16%257
79Aurora CO16%333
80Honolulu HI16%379
81Harrisburg PA16%261
82Lexington KY15%221
83Philadelphia PA15%1,852
84Englewood CO15%249
85Boca Raton FL15%340
86Boise ID15%354
87Redmond WA15%1,150
88Syracuse NY15%397
89Colorado Springs CO14%691
90Raleigh NC14%1,421
91Hartford CT14%350
92Providence RI14%201
93Columbia MD14%260
94Stamford CT14%326
95Las Vegas NV14%917
96Atlanta GA14%5,502
97Dallas TX14%4,379
98Cary NC14%229
99Sterling VA13%305
100Columbus OH13%1,942

How this ranking works

A city's score is the share of its open professional roles whose posting states an annual salary range.

Pay laws in some states require a posted range, which lifts the figure there. The list shows how often pay is posted, not how high it is.

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 200 openings are not ranked.

Sources: NextChapter job data: open professional roles on employer career sites, verified in the last week. 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: cities that post pay most often?
San Mateo leads the United States for pay transparency: 64% of its professional openings state a salary, against 20% across all cities in our data.
How many cities are ranked?
100 cities have at least 200 openings, so the list has 100 entries.
How is the ranking calculated?
A city's score is the share of its open professional roles whose posting states an annual salary range. Pay laws in some states require a posted range, which lifts the figure there. The list shows how often pay is posted, not how high it is. 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, “Cities that post pay most often,” November 2026 edition. https://launchyournextchapter.com/rankings/cities-that-post-pay-most-often

Link to it: <a href="https://launchyournextchapter.com/rankings/cities-that-post-pay-most-often">Cities that post pay most often (NextChapter, November 2026)</a>

Download the data: CSV · JSON. Free to use with a link back.

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