The Pittsburgh area led the nation as the region with the highest percentage increase in tech salaries from 2020 to 2021, according to a new report from Dice.
Dice, a platform that connects tech workers with employers, found the Pittsburgh area had an average 2021 tech salary of $98,304, a 14% increase from the prior year and the largest increase compared to 25 other tech hubs that Dice included in the report, which the platform ranked cities overall by their total average salaries. In that regard, Pittsburgh came in at No. 19 whereas average salaries in the top three highest-paid regions were: No. 1 Silicon Valley with $133,204, No. 2 Seattle with $118,729 and No. 3 New York with $115,510.
As for percentage growth year-over-year, Atlanta, Chicago, Miami and Seattle rounded out the top five with 13.9%, 12.6%, 11.4% and 11.2%, respectively.
"When the pandemic began, some pundits and analysts believed that traditional hubs such as Silicon Valley could fade into irrelevance as technologists embraced remote work and moved to places with a cheaper cost of living," the report read. "Such predictions failed to take into account all the factors that continue to make sizable tech hubs attractive, such as easy access to universities and venture funding, a well-established social scene and an existing base of companies seeking talent."
The report also noted that established companies in tech hubs can usually pay more than their smaller competitors.
Dice collected the data by surveying those who used its services between Aug. 10 and Oct. 10. The report included 7,215 completed surveys. As for its Pittsburgh metrics, Dice noted fewer than 100 respondents identified as being from the region, making its findings not statistically valid for the Pittsburgh area. Dice said it kept the region's ranking in the report for continuity purposes, as it did with seven other regions it included in the report but for which it was unable to get more than 100 respondents.
Dice also looked at vacation time among respondents. Twenty-three percent of respondents had three weeks of vacation, while 18% had two weeks and 17% had four weeks.
"As burnout remains a growing concern at organizations everywhere, offering more generous amounts of paid vacation time could be a differentiating incentive for attracting talent in 2022," the report read.
The full report can be found here.
