Where’s the best place to live if you’re in tech? Rent.com answers that question [1] in their new list of the 10 best cities for tech workers (answer ... San Jose. But city #2 might surprise you.)
The top 10 budding tech cities for workers nationwide include:
1. San Jose
“By simply being in San Jose, you are at the epicenter of digital evolution,” said Rent.com. Its annual median salary of $171, 740 won’t buy as much here as other places on this list, but the cradle of Silicon Valley has so much more to offer. There’s its affiliation with Stanford University, plus excellent options for housing, transport, and recreation. And let’s not forget about all those angel investors looking to give away money.
2. Boulder, Colorado
Silicon Valley in the Rockies has stunning natural landscapes that surround its web of tech centers, venture capitalists, incubators, and research centers (e.g., University of Colorado – Boulder). The miracle is not that Boulder has a progressive government that attracts tech talent and fuels an economic environment that supports business development, but that the city has kept its individualism and community feel while doing so.
3. Seattle
The town that Microsoft and Amazon built (or at least heavily shaped) shares Boulder’s mix of tech and nature, as well as the heady cocktail of East Coast intensity and West Coast chill. Seattle has been committed to pushing boundaries and embracing change ever since Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard, and it’s not slowing down.
4. San Francisco
Known as much for its architecture as its tech, San Jose’s neighbor is home to Google, Apple, and Meta. The diverse culture and forward-thinking societal mindset allow tech workers to thrive, fed by a multicultural point of view and prestigious academic institutions like Stanford and Berkeley.
5. Washington, D.C.
The nation’s capital might be a surprise here, but not everything in tech happens in the lab. DC is where legislation is written, and legislation is what shapes the tech landscape. The city’s plethora of data centers, tech start-ups, and political power centers doesn’t hurt.
6. Huntsville, Alabama
The birthplace of the American space program, Rocket City makes this list not just for Cummings Research Park (the fourth largest in the world), but for its low cost of living, high quality of life, and abundance of natural beauty.
7. Durham, North Carolina
Another city where innovation meets Southern charm, Durham is the home to not only a number of tech start-ups and incubators, but also Duke University and Research Triangle Park, one of the oldest and largest research centers in the nation.
8. Austin, Texas
The birthplace of Dell, Silicon Hills mixes a vibrant intellectual and technical world with an active lifestyle, a business-friendly government, and a great food and music scene. The town’s motto used to be “Keep Austin Weird,” but don’t be surprised if they change it to “Keep Austin Wired”.
9. Raleigh, North Carolina
Durham’s next-door neighbor boasts two tier-one A research universities (North Carolina State University [2] and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill [3]), along with a high quality of life and low cost of living.
10. Colorado Springs, Colorado
Built on talent, technology, and tolerance, Colorado Springs blends a vibrant intellectual and tech community with natural beauty and a commitment to environmental sustainability.
Click here [4] to view Rent.com's top tech cities nationwide.