Best Cities for Women in Tech 2026

Each city earns a score out of 100 from three sub-scores, each normalised (min–max) across all 38 cities so no single market can dominate on raw numbers alone:

• Pay (40%) — the local median total comp for a mid-level woman in tech, converted to a common currency (USD) at approximate current FX so cities are comparable, then scaled 0–100. The highest-paying market scores 100.
• Pay Equity (35%) — the midpoint of the city’s documented gender-pay-gap range. This one is inverted: the smallest gap scores 100 and the widest scores 0, because a high salary matters less if women are systematically underpaid.
• Community (25%) — whether WomenHack runs recruiting events in the city. Event-hub cities score 100; cities with salary and city guides but no dedicated events score 40, reflecting the real, but smaller, access advantage.

The pay and pay-gap inputs come straight from the WomenHack women in tech salary guides — the same conservative, publicly sourced estimates behind every city salary page — and event presence reflects WomenHack’s live recruiting-event markets. Because the whole ranking is recomputed from that data on every page load, it stays honest: change a source number and the table re-sorts itself.

This is a directional benchmark for mid-level technologists, not investment or relocation advice. Cost of living, visa access, equity, and individual negotiation all shift the real picture — use the per-city guides for the full breakdown.