5 Best And Worst States In The US For IT Salaries

By Bhagyesh

| Updated: Thursday, April 7, 2016, 17:05 [IST]

Everyone vies for a job in US especially in the tech industry, which is home to all the major players like Microsoft, Google, Apple and Facebook, etc. However, not all states provide the same standards for tech employees.

There are places like Silicon Valley, which is considered to be like candy land for job seekers but there are also places like where the word technology is not so popular. That is why the Computing Technology Industry Association, a tech industry trade organization did a study on tech salaries in different states.

So here's a breakdown and comparison between the top five best states and the five worst states for IT salaries in United States.

Best States:

Overall ranking: 1
Average tech salary: $149,300

Well it's not surprising at all given the fact that tech giants such as Google and Facebook are headquartered in California, and the San Francisco Bay area also supports a large start-up community.

Best States:

Overall ranking: 2
Average tech wage: $129,400

There are 14,000 companies and almost 200,000 people are employed in technology-related jobs in the state.

It is the birthplace of legendary businesses like Microsoft, Amazon, Cray, F5 Networks, Zillow and Expedia and also a home to engineering offices for Facebook, Google, Twitter, Apple, Salesforce, BestBuy, Alibaba and eBay.

The state's tech companies bring in $37 billion in revenue and the market value of just the top ten public tech companies is a staggering $600 billion.

Best States:

Overall ranking: 3
Average tech wage: $127,900

There are 286,000 tech jobs in Massachusetts i.e. 9.8 percent of the state's total labour force.

Massachusetts added 8,600 technology jobs last year, the fourth-largest growth of any state.

Best States:

Overall ranking: 4
Average tech wage: $118,500

In 2013 New Jersey's technology cluster accounted for 354,640 jobs or 11.0 percent of private sector employment state-wide.

Employers in the industry paid over $39 billion in wages.

Information technology has always been an integral part of New Jersey ever since Albert Einstein developed his Theory of Relativity, the first light bulb, first Phone Company, first phonograph, robot, LCD; it was all invented in New Jersey.

Best States:

Overall ranking: 5
Average tech wage: $109,200

Around 291,000 people are employed in the New York City "tech ecosystem."

The tech sector creates revenue of $124.7 billion in annual output.

Worst States for IT industry in US

Montana
Overall ranking: 46
Average tech wage: $66,826

Kentucky
Overall ranking: 47
Average tech wage: $66,565

West Virginia
Overall ranking: 48
Average tech wage: $64,299

Mississippi
Overall ranking: 49
Average tech wage: 60,397

South Dakota
Overall ranking: 50
Average tech wage: $59,085

So, we hope this helps you in choosing the right state for an entry in the tech space in the United States.