Austin vs California

Put two roles head to head — any role, in any location or worldwide-remote.

Side A

Side B

Austin pays about 3% more at the median.

Side-by-side distribution

Austin California
$160k
$155k
$43.7k box = 25th–75th · whiskers = 10th–90th $284.6k

Austin

$160,000

median · per year, annualized USD

Median over time ▬ 0%
$160,000 $160,000
$100k 25th
$160k Median
$215k 75th
$62.4k
$268k
Box 25th–75th · whiskers 10th–90th Full range $6k – $5,000k · outliers off-axis
Disclosing
42.9%
Live roles
4,387

California

$155,000

median · per year, annualized USD

Median over time ▼ -11.4%
$175,000 $155,000
$100k 25th
$155k Median
$200k 75th
$60.3k
$247.5k
Box 25th–75th · whiskers 10th–90th Full range $5.3k – $5,000k · outliers off-axis
Disclosing
73.5%
Live roles
13,968

Top companies hiring

Company Median Roles
Fluidstack $217,500 274
Neuralink $114,500 47
DoorDash USA $145,650 46
Braze $140,000 45
Gong.io $162,500 37
MongoDB $149,750 36
Tenstorrent $300,000 35
NoGigiddy $43,680 29

Top companies hiring

Company Median Roles
Anduril Industries $170,000 1,244
Databricks $216,104 282
Relativity Space $165,000 231
NoGigiddy $43,680 200
Cheer Home Care $44,720 178
Revolution Medicines $209,500 165
Archer $171,100 153
ALO $79,175 143

Highest-paying roles in Austin

Role Median Roles
UX Designer $201,600 15
Software Engineer $201,500 461
Data Scientist $187,500 17
DevOps $173,500 69
Recruiter $159,050 258
Product Manager $157,500 389
Customer Success $152,500 525
Project Manager $143,750 192
Sales $140,000 657
Marketing Manager $135,000 255

Highest-paying roles in California

Role Median Roles
DevOps $185,788 242
Software Engineer $185,575 2,504
Recruiter $180,000 1,007
Data Scientist $176,801 167
Product Manager $170,000 1,567
Customer Success $169,000 1,939
UX Designer $165,000 33
Sales $150,000 2,083
Project Manager $148,625 944
Marketing Manager $138,588 686

Austin vs California: which pays more?

The median for Austin is $160,000 per year (typically $99,963–$215,000), versus $155,000 for California ($100,000–$200,000). That puts Austin about 3% ahead at the median.

Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Austin and California are compared on equal terms regardless of the currency each role was originally posted in. Only roles that publish a salary range feed the medians; numbers refresh every few hours as new roles post and older ones close, so this comparison reflects the market right now rather than a fixed survey. Use it as a directional benchmark when weighing one path against the other.

See full salary data

Catch your next role the second it’s posted.

Create a free account and we’ll watch the boards for you — the instant a job matches your search, it lands in your inbox or Telegram. No digging, no refreshing.

Create free account

Free forever · takes 30 seconds · already have one?

Get an edge on your job hunt.

Join our Telegram channel for the stuff that helps you land the role — salary benchmarks, the weekly market pulse, and new-feature drops. No spam, just signal.

Join the channel — it's free