Women in Tech Salary Heatmap
An interactive US map of women-in-tech pay — median salaries by city across 15 tech hubs in 2026, plus the gender pay gap. Hover, toggle, and click through to any city.
Updated June 2026 · Free to embed & citeWomen in tech salaries by city
Where women in tech get paid the most
This salary map colors every major US tech hub by the median pay for a mid-level woman technologist. The highest-paying cities for women in tech cluster on the coasts — San Francisco leads at $150,000 a year — while median pay across the 15 cities ranges from $110,000 to $150,000. Read the tech salary map below, flip it to the gender pay gap, and open any city for a full breakdown by seniority and role.
Median = midpoint of each city's mid-level pay range, aggregated from public salary data and updated June 2026.
The interactive tech salary map
Tiles are placed by rough US geography (Pacific coast at left, Atlantic at right). Brighter = higher. Scroll sideways on mobile, or tap a city for its full salary guide.
The rankings
Highest-paying cities & the smallest pay gap
Top 10 highest-paying US cities
By median women-in-tech pay per year
- San Francisco $150,000
- New York $140,000
- Seattle $137,500
- Los Angeles $130,000
- Boston $127,500
- Washington, D.C. $125,000
- Austin $120,000
- Chicago $120,000
- Denver $120,000
- San Diego $120,000
Smallest pay gap, in dollars
Every US hub shares the same 8–12% gap band — ranked here by the lowest estimated annual dollar cost
- Miami ≈$11,000/yr
- Salt Lake City ≈$11,250/yr
- Atlanta ≈$11,500/yr
- Dallas ≈$11,500/yr
- Portland ≈$11,500/yr
- Austin ≈$12,000/yr
- Chicago ≈$12,000/yr
- Denver ≈$12,000/yr
- San Diego ≈$12,000/yr
- Washington, D.C. ≈$12,500/yr
What the map shows
- San Francisco pays the most — a median of $150,000 a year, about 36% more than the lowest-paying hub on the map.
- The coasts dominate. San Francisco, New York, Seattle, and Boston sit at the top; the Texas, Southeast, and Mountain-West markets pay less in absolute terms but often stretch further after cost of living.
- The gap barely moves by city. Every US hub in the dataset sits in the same 8–12% gender pay gap band, so the gap view flattens the map — what changes is the dollar cost, from $11,000 to $15,000 a year.
- Location changes pay more than the gap does. Because the gap percentage is flat, a woman technologist's biggest pay lever between cities is the base market rate, not a smaller local gap.
Methodology & sources
Each city's median is the midpoint of the mid-level (3–5 years) annual pay range shown on that city's women-in-tech salary guide, so the map stays consistent with the pages it links to. Figures are conservative 2026 estimates aggregated from public salary data across 15 US tech hubs, updated annually.
The gender pay gap shown for every city is the 8–12% band from the same salary dataset — it is identical across these US markets, which is why the gap view is near-uniform. The "estimated $ cost/yr" is a transparent derivation: 10% (the midpoint of the 8–12% band) multiplied by the city's median. Because the percentage is flat, that dollar cost scales with local pay rather than reflecting a city-specific gap. The gap varies far more by seniority and by race than by city — see the Women in Tech Salary Report for that breakdown, and the Pay Gap Calculator to check your own pay.
Frequently asked questions
Which US city pays women in tech the most in 2026?
San Francisco tops the map at a median of $150,000 a year for a mid-level woman technologist, followed by the other coastal hubs. Median pay ranges from $110,000 in the lower-cost US markets to $150,000 in San Francisco across the 15 cities benchmarked here.
What is the average women-in-tech salary by city in the US?
Across these 15 US tech hubs the median woman-in-tech salary averages about $124,000 a year. The highest-paying cities are San Francisco, New York, and Seattle; the lowest of the group are Miami, Salt Lake City, and the mid-tier Texas and Southeast markets. Each figure is the midpoint of that city's mid-level pay range.
Does the gender pay gap change from city to city?
In this dataset the gap is strikingly consistent: every US market sits in the same 8–12% band, so switching the map to gap view flattens it. What changes is the dollar cost — a 10% gap is worth about $15,000 a year in San Francisco versus $11,000 in the lowest-paid market. The gap varies far more by seniority and by race — see the full salary report.
How do I read the salary heatmap?
Brighter red tiles mean higher median pay; darker tiles mean lower. Hover any city for its exact median and estimated pay gap, and tap a tile to open that city's full salary breakdown by seniority and role. Use the toggle above the map to recolor it by the estimated dollar cost of the gender pay gap instead of by pay.
Where does the salary data come from?
Figures are aggregated from public salary data and WomenHack's salary guides, expressed as conservative 2026 estimates and updated annually. Each city median is the midpoint of the mid-level range shown on that city's women-in-tech salary guide, so the map stays consistent with the pages it links to. The data is free to embed and cite.
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