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Jobs in San Diego, CA: pay, hiring and remote work
In San Diego, 54.8% of the 1,082 job postings we track list a pay range, and the median posted pay is $150,000 a year. 9.1% are remote, 9.6% are entry level, and 30.5% have been open for more than 60 days (data as of October 2026).
What stands out
- A $137,500 posted salary in the San Diego area buys about what $123,000 buys in the average US metro area, because prices here run 12% above the national average.
- Housing costs run 79% above the US average here (BEA regional price parities).
- 50.9% of open job postings list a pay range, 12th of 99 metro areas.
- 7.1% of postings are remote, 21st highest of 99 metro areas.
- 10.4% of postings are entry-level, 82nd of 99 metro areas.
CA requires employers to include a pay range in job postings (since 2023).
San Diego is part of the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA metro area, with suburbs and nearby towns broken out.
The metro area's unemployment rate was 4.9% in 2026-08 (5.1% a year earlier) (BLS, not seasonally adjusted). Across California, employers had 674,000 job openings in 2025-12, an openings rate of 3.6% (BLS JOLTS). Indeed's own measure of job postings in the metro area is 8.2% below its February 2020 level and 4.2% higher than a year ago (Indeed Hiring Lab, 2026-10-02).
Posted pay vs official wages
| Kind of job | Median posted pay | Closest official occupation | Official median wage (BLS, May 2025) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Software developers | $197,500 31 postings | software developers | $163,500 |
Official wages are the Bureau of Labor Statistics median annual wage for all workers in that occupation in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA metro area. Posted pay is the middle of the ranges in open postings, so the two measure different things: pay for open jobs versus pay for everyone already employed.
Posted pay by kind of job in San Diego
| Kind of job | Median posted pay | Postings with pay |
|---|---|---|
| Software developers | $197,500 | 31 |
| Software engineering | $177,500 | 30 |
| Legal and compliance | $175,000 | 22 |
| Operations and logistics | $165,500 | 18 |
| Product and design | $151,500 | 10 |
| Security and IT | $147,000 | 10 |
| Engineering (other) | $129,000 | 14 |
| Sales | $99,000 | 56 |
Kinds of job are grouped by title wording. Pay is the midpoint of the range in the posting, annualized for hourly postings.
Who is hiring, by industry
| Industry | Postings |
|---|---|
| Software & Technology | 257 |
| Healthcare & Life Sciences | 183 |
| Consulting & Professional Services | 113 |
| Manufacturing & Industrial | 101 |
| Retail & E-commerce | 92 |
| Real Estate & Construction | 82 |
| Other | 63 |
| Education | 57 |
| Financial Services | 50 |
| Media & Entertainment | 37 |
| Logistics & Transportation | 24 |
Employers with the most openings
- Shieldai: 68 postings
- Asml: 50 postings
- Leidos: 39 postings
- Nus: 29 postings
- Careers Sdsurf: 26 postings
What applications ask in San Diego
Among 190 application forms we read: 38.9% ask applicants for a salary expectation, 74.7% ask about visa sponsorship, 60% include the equal-opportunity section, and 13.7% carry an AI-use notice. Question wording only; no applicant answers are ever collected.
What your paycheck buys here
Prices in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA area run 12% above the national average, and housing runs 79% above it. The official median wage for all jobs is $58,500, which is worth $52,500 in average-US dollars. The median posted pay of $137,500 is worth $123,000.
How it compares with similar-sized metro areas
| Metro area | Pay listed | Posted pay | Official wage | Prices | Paycheck power |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Diego | 50.9% | $137,500 | $58,500 | 111.9 | $52,500 |
| Denver | 63.7% | $144,000 | $62,500 | 105.8 | $59,000 |
| Tampa | 19.3% | $115,000 | $49,000 | 100.9 | $48,500 |
| Orlando | 17.6% | $102,000 | $46,500 | 101.4 | $46,000 |
| Riverside | 48.9% | $106,500 | $48,500 | 106.4 | $45,500 |
| Charlotte | 24.5% | $127,500 | $50,000 | 97.3 | $51,500 |
| St. Louis | 19.7% | $122,500 | $50,000 | 95.1 | $52,500 |
Compare any metro areas side by side
Download this data
Free to use with credit: Second Summit, October 2026. Data (CSV) · Data (JSON) · paycheck power chart (SVG) · prices chart (SVG) · industries chart (SVG) · biggest jobs chart (SVG)
Related pages
Where its metro area ranks
Postings that list several cities count in each one. This covers employers whose career pages we read, not every job in San Diego. Methodology · All cities (CSV)
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