Dubbed one of the fastest-growing tech hubs in the Southeast region, Atlanta has retained the title for good reason. Its competitive business scene, collaborative startup culture and lower cost of living are just a few of the characteristics that define the city as an attractive locale for individuals and companies alike. A recent report from tech hiring platform Dice.com indicates that the city has yet another incentive that’s especially appealing in today’s recovering economy.
Atlanta offers one of the highest annual salaries in the nation for tech industry professionals, according to Dice.com. In the tech job marketplace platform’s 2022 Tech Salary Report, the average annual tech salary in the U.S. was $104,566 in 2021. This number is up 6.9 percent over 2020’s average. Though long-standing tech hubs like Silicon Valley and New York City played a part in this overall increase, smaller but prospering markets like Atlanta contributed their fair share to the growth as well.
According to the report, Atlanta saw the second fastest-growing tech salaries in the country in 2021. Its average tech salary of $107,515 was up 13.9 percent over over 2020’s average of $94,386 and was the tenth highest in the nation. The city’s tech salary growth ranked higher than Chicago, which saw a 12.6 percent salary increase in 2021, and was surpassed only by Pittsburgh which saw growth of 14 percent.
Going by state, Georgia saw average tech salaries increase 12.1 percent year over year compared to 2021. That rate of growth is similar to that of Washington, which saw a 12.2 percent increase, and higher than that of California, which increased by 6.3 percent. Atlanta is a strong contributor to Georgia’s growth in this area due to factors like its thriving academic scene that offers an abundance of local talent with tech skills companies are willing to pay more for.
The top spots on the ranking were claimed by Silicon Valley at no. 1 with an average tech salary of $133,204, followed by Seattle and New York at no. 2 and no. 3 respectively.
Going further into 2022, the Atlanta tech sector is poised to undergo continued growth based on its momentum over the last two years. So far this year alone, Atlanta-area tech companies like OfficeSpace and Accelerant have raised nine-digit mega rounds, and tech giants like Microsoft and Airbnb have announced plans to grow their Peach State presences.
