San Francisco.
  • The pandemic created lenient work policies and tech employees fled the Bay Area for smaller locales.
  • Pay in cities like Austin, Portland, and Denver increased during this time. It's since dropped.
  • San Francisco tech pay is now up the most. The city's population grew, too, new data shows.

Even as pay in tech took a hit the last two years from layoffs and industry-wide belt-tightening, compensation for workers based in San Francisco rose this year more than in any other city.