North America · United States
Austin
The primary US relocation destination for technology employers seeking lower costs without losing scale.
- Hub score
- 76
- Cost of living
- 103
- Median rent
- $1,780
- Internet speed
- 212 Mbps
Composite of talent, capital, output
100 = US national average
Per month
Austin absorbed a decade of corporate relocations and now has genuine depth in semiconductors, enterprise software and infrastructure. Costs have risen materially, narrowing but not erasing the gap with coastal markets.
Strengths
- No state income tax
- Strong semiconductor and hardware base
- Central US time zone
- Costs below coastal markets
Watch-outs
- Talent depth thins at staff and principal levels
- Housing costs rose faster than compensation
- Summer heat affects office attendance patterns
- Population
- 980,000
- Timezone
- UTC−6 / −5
- Currency
- USD
- Talent pool
- 165,000 technology workers
3 open roles
Live job postings in Austin →
Compensation
What tech roles pay in Austin
Median base salary by role, adjusted for the Austin market.
| Role | Median | 75th percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Software Engineer | $165k | $210k |
| Product Manager | $156k | $197k |
| Data Scientist | $150k | $186k |
| Data Engineer | $157k | $196k |
| Analytics Engineer | $137k | $169k |
| Machine Learning Engineer | $196k | $251k |
| Product Designer | $137k | $171k |
| UX Researcher | $129k | $160k |
| DevOps Engineer | $164k | $206k |
| Security Engineer | $173k | $218k |
| Engineering Manager | $209k | $260k |
| Technical Program Manager | $165k | $207k |
| Account Executive | $100k | $130k |
| Customer Success Manager | $92k | $117k |
Employers
Notable companies in Austin
Airtable
Relational database with a spreadsheet interface, used to build internal operational apps.
Canva
Visual design platform aimed at non-designers, scaled into enterprise brand management.
Cloudflare
Global edge network combining performance, security and developer compute.
Atlassian
Software team tooling anchored by Jira and Confluence, sold with minimal sales touch.
Related
Compare with other markets
FAQ
Common questions
What is the cost of living like in Austin?
Austin's cost of living index is 103 (100 = US national average), with median rent around $1,780/month.
What is the tech talent pool like in Austin?
165,000 technology workers
Is Austin hiring for tech roles right now?
Yes — there are 3 open roles in Austin right now.