Philadelphia tech salaries see biggest jump in the US, growing faster than Silicon Valley

Technology job paychecks grew fastest in Philadelphia this year, according to a new survey of employers and workers by Hired.com.

Philadelphia posted the largest growth in average local tech salaries—a nearly 12% increase from $127,000 in 2021 to $142,000 in 2022—compared with 15 other large U.S. metro areas, including Silicon Valley.

Remote technology roles in Philadelphia, in which the employee lives here but is working for a company elsewhere, paid even more—on average, $157,000 in 2022, according to Hired.com's annual survey, which looks at data for the six months through June 30.

"Candidates taking remote jobs are getting higher salaries than people required to be in Philly," said Hired.com CEO Josh Brenner. Hired.com "local" figures represent jobs for which workers must show up in person.

Although Philly tech jobs don't pay the highest absolute dollar amount, the city's growth rate was the fastest.

Philadelphia (+11.9%), Dallas/Fort Worth (+11%), and Denver (+11%) posted the highest average "local" salary increases across all U.S. markets. Other high-growth areas included Toronto and London, globally, which ranked above Boston, New York, San Francisco Bay Area, and Seattle this year in terms of year-over-year salary growth, according to the survey.

The highest average tech salaries for employees living in those cities in 2022 are:

• San Francisco Bay Area: $174,063
• Seattle: $168,069
• New York: $161,128
• Boston: $158,548
• Austin: $157,612

Tech workers this year are also asking more for tangible benefits instead of stock in companies, Brenner said.

Amid a drop in the stock market and slowing start-up capital, "we've seen a big change in the benefits candidates are looking for, and this year it's a shift to practical benefits, such as health care, 401(k) plan matching, and so forth," Brenner said.

Paychecks for engineers and other tech experts grew exponentially during the pandemic, and inflation in underlying goods and services is adding to increasing wages.

Philadelphia historically offered lower salaries than other cities, but now tech workers can command a higher asking price, said Michael Shields, research director at the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia. Rents and higher home prices may continue to add to inflation locally and push salaries even further.

"We really saw the high demand for these jobs during COVID," Shields said. "And more demand equals more money."

The Hired.com findings analyzed more than 907,000 interview requests over 47,000 active positions, through Hired's marketplace from January 2019 through June 2022. Hired also surveyed more than 2,000 tech professionals on their salary, benefits, and flexible work preferences.