North America · United States
San Francisco
The highest-density technology market in the world, with compensation and costs to match.
- Hub score
- 97
- Cost of living
- 168
- Median rent
- $3,450
- Internet speed
- 268 Mbps
Composite of talent, capital, output
100 = US national average
Per month
San Francisco remains the deepest market for senior engineering, AI research and early-stage capital. It is also the most expensive place to hire, and the premium has narrowed as remote-first companies benchmark nationally rather than locally.
Strengths
- Deepest senior engineering pool
- Unmatched early-stage capital access
- Highest density of AI research talent
- Strong founder and operator networks
Watch-outs
- Housing costs consume a large share of gross pay
- Aggressive counter-offer culture lengthens hiring cycles
- Office attendance expectations are rising again
- Population
- 808,000
- Timezone
- UTC−8 / −7
- Currency
- USD
- Talent pool
- 410,000 technology workers across the Bay Area
- Visa note
- H-1B lottery timing dominates international hiring plans; cap-exempt routes are limited.
120 open roles
Live job postings in San Francisco →
Compensation
What tech roles pay in San Francisco
Median base salary by role, adjusted for the San Francisco market.
| Role | Median | 75th percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Software Engineer | $222k | $283k |
| Product Manager | $211k | $267k |
| Data Scientist | $207k | $257k |
| Data Engineer | $209k | $261k |
| Analytics Engineer | $182k | $226k |
| Machine Learning Engineer | $279k | $356k |
| Product Designer | $189k | $237k |
| UX Researcher | $178k | $222k |
| DevOps Engineer | $211k | $266k |
| Security Engineer | $224k | $282k |
| Engineering Manager | $280k | $349k |
| Technical Program Manager | $222k | $278k |
| Account Executive | $125k | $161k |
| Customer Success Manager | $115k | $147k |
Employers
Notable companies in San Francisco
Stripe
Payments infrastructure for internet businesses, from startups to global enterprises.
Figma
Browser-native collaborative design platform and the de facto standard for product teams.
Notion
Connected workspace combining documents, databases, wikis and lightweight project management.
Vercel
Frontend cloud platform built around Next.js, edge delivery and preview-driven workflows.
Linear
Opinionated issue tracking and product planning for software teams that value speed.
Snowflake
Cloud data platform separating storage from compute across every major cloud.
Databricks
Data and AI platform built on the lakehouse architecture and open table formats.
Airtable
Relational database with a spreadsheet interface, used to build internal operational apps.
Cloudflare
Global edge network combining performance, security and developer compute.
Salesforce
The enterprise CRM standard, expanded into a sprawling platform through sustained acquisition.
Atlassian
Software team tooling anchored by Jira and Confluence, sold with minimal sales touch.
Ramp
Corporate cards and spend management built around reducing expenditure rather than rewarding it.
Shopify
Commerce platform powering online storefronts, payments and fulfilment for merchants.
Zapier
Automation platform connecting thousands of SaaS applications without engineering effort.
Related
Compare with other markets
FAQ
Common questions
What is the cost of living like in San Francisco?
San Francisco's cost of living index is 168 (100 = US national average), with median rent around $3,450/month.
What is the tech talent pool like in San Francisco?
410,000 technology workers across the Bay Area
Is San Francisco hiring for tech roles right now?
Yes — there are 120 open roles in San Francisco right now.