The 6 Best-Paying Cities for Software Engineers in the Pacific Northwest

The 6 Best-Paying Cities for Software Engineers in the Pacific Northwest

For many, outside of California, there is no better tech hub than the Pacific Northwest. Oregon and Washington state have long been home to many software engineers, programmers and developers, and the professional social network Blind found their pay can rival those in Silicon Valley.

The average total compensation for software engineers in the Pacific Northwest is more than $146,000, according to Blind.

Here are the top six best-paying cities for software engineers in the Pacific Northwest, based on salary and total compensation, including the annual base salary, stock-based compensation and cash bonuses if offered.

1. Kirkland, Wash.

  • Average Total Compensation: $267,167
  • Median Total Compensation: $241,222
  • Average Salary: $151,495
  • Median Salary: $145,000

It may surprise some, but Seattle is not the No. 1 best-paying city for software engineers in the Pacific Northwest. Instead, Kirkland is the top dog and the 6th best-paying city in the U.S.

The Seattle suburb is home to a giant Google campus, which is expected to grow larger soon, as the internet giant recently purchased an additional 750,000 square feet of real estate in town amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cloudflare, GoDaddy, ServiceNow, Tableau and Tanium are among the other best-paying tech employers in Kirkland.

2. Seattle

  • Average Total Compensation: $242,501
  • Median Total Compensation: $206,900
  • Average Salary: $148,636
  • Median Salary: $145,000

Seattle is home to the headquarters of Amazon, which recently announced it doubled the maximum base salary for its corporate employees to $350,000. The previous pay cap was $160,000. The big money-move helped make Seattle the 11th best-paying city for software engineers in the U.S.

Other top tech employers in the Emerald City include Apple, Dell, Google, IBM, Lyft, Meta, Microsoft, Uber and more.

3. Bellevue, Wash.

  • Average Total Compensation: $214,670
  • Median Total Compensation: $186,000
  • Average Salary: $145,219
  • Median Salary: $137,000

Bellevue is the 18th best-paying city in the U.S. and third overall in the Pacific Northwest, according to Blind.

The King County city of Bellevue is home to the corporate headquarters of T-Mobile U.S. and the video-game distributor Valve, plus large satellite offices for eBay, Expedia, Oracle, Salesforce, SAP and more.

4. Redmond, Wash.

  • Average Total Compensation: $201,645
  • Median Total Compensation: $190,000
  • Average Salary: $138,442
  • Median Salary: $137,000

The heavyweights Microsoft and Nintendo of America call Redmond their corporate headquarters and push Redmond to the No. 25 best-paying city in the U.S.

Other top employers of programmers in the city include AT&T, Honeywell, NVIDIA and more.

5. Portland, Ore.

  • Average Total Compensation: $182,152
  • Median Total Compensation: $150,500
  • Average Salary: $143,567
  • Median Salary: $132,250

Portland and its suburbs are home to more than 1,200 technology companies; in some circles, the achievement has earned its startup scene the nickname “Silicon Forest.” Among the best-paying cities for software engineers in the country, Portland sits at No. 30, according to Blind’s analysis.

Intel is the City of Roses’ largest employer, but the city is also home to the headquarters of Expensify and regional offices for Amazon, Apple, Google, Lyft, Microsoft and others.

6. Hillsboro, Ore.

  • Average Total Compensation: $146,834
  • Median Total Compensation: $133,000
  • Average Salary: $117,137
  • Median Salary: $110,000

Intel’s campus in Hillsboro might be considered the heart of Silicon Forest. The tech giants NVIDIA, Oracle, Salesforce, Synopsys and more have also located themselves in town to benefit from the abundance of software engineers.

While Hillsboro is sixth when ranked by total compensation for software engineers in the Pacific Northwest, the city ranks 55th in the U.S.

Methodology

Blind analyzed the salaries and total compensation of software engineers in the United States on its platform. Cities were ranked by the average total compensation, including annual base salary and, if applicable, stock-based compensation and cash bonuses. The list includes only cities in Oregon and Washington state in the top 75 best-paying cities for software engineers in the United States. All data is self-reported by verified professionals on the professional social network Blind.