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Jobs in San Francisco, CA: pay, hiring and remote work
In San Francisco, 76.2% of the 13,514 job postings we track list a pay range, and the median posted pay is $212,500 a year. 24.8% are remote, 4.8% are entry level, and 48.8% have been open for more than 60 days (data as of October 2026).
What stands out
- A $205,000 posted salary in the San Francisco area buys about what $177,500 buys in the average US metro area, because prices here run 16% above the national average.
- Housing costs run 95% above the US average here (BEA regional price parities).
- After adjusting for local prices, the typical worker's official median wage ($74,500) is worth $64,000 in average-US dollars, 5th of 99 metro areas.
- 73.7% of open job postings list a pay range, the highest of 99 metro areas.
- 21.5% of postings are remote, the highest of 99 metro areas.
CA requires employers to include a pay range in job postings (since 2023).
San Francisco is part of the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA metro area, with suburbs and nearby towns broken out.
The metro area's unemployment rate was 4.6% in 2026-08 (4.9% 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 28.6% below its February 2020 level and 14.9% 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 | $239,000 1705 postings | software developers | $186,500 |
| Accountants | $131,500 28 postings | accountants and auditors | $110,500 |
| Data scientists | $225,500 128 postings | data scientists | $170,000 |
| People and recruiting | $175,000 258 postings | human resources specialists | $103,000 |
Official wages are the Bureau of Labor Statistics median annual wage for all workers in that occupation in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, 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 Francisco
| Kind of job | Median posted pay | Postings with pay |
|---|---|---|
| Security and IT | $240,000 | 441 |
| Software developers | $239,000 | 1705 |
| Legal and compliance | $231,000 | 274 |
| Data scientists | $225,500 | 128 |
| Software engineering | $220,000 | 449 |
| Product and design | $212,500 | 668 |
| Finance and accounting | $200,000 | 318 |
| Marketing | $195,000 | 629 |
| Data and analytics | $192,500 | 75 |
| Operations and logistics | $192,500 | 427 |
| Engineering (other) | $185,000 | 77 |
| Sales | $185,000 | 754 |
| Nursing and clinical care | $181,000 | 44 |
| People and recruiting | $175,000 | 258 |
| Customer support and success | $173,000 | 193 |
| Accountants | $131,500 | 28 |
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 | 8801 |
| Financial Services | 996 |
| Healthcare & Life Sciences | 781 |
| Other | 672 |
| Logistics & Transportation | 404 |
| Media & Entertainment | 373 |
| Energy & Utilities | 335 |
| Consulting & Professional Services | 284 |
| Manufacturing & Industrial | 258 |
| Real Estate & Construction | 186 |
| Retail & E-commerce | 164 |
| Government & Nonprofit | 88 |
| Education | 86 |
| Insurance | 60 |
| Telecommunications | 26 |
Employers with the most openings
- OpenAI: 1124 postings
- Anthropic: 473 postings
- Crusoe: 292 postings
- DoorDash USA: 215 postings
- Clera: 206 postings
What applications ask in San Francisco
Among 1967 application forms we read: 12.5% ask applicants for a salary expectation, 78.2% ask about visa sponsorship, 58.6% include the equal-opportunity section, and 12.7% carry an AI-use notice. Question wording only; no applicant answers are ever collected.
What your paycheck buys here
Prices in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA area run 16% above the national average, and housing runs 95% above it. The official median wage for all jobs is $74,500, which is worth $64,000 in average-US dollars. The median posted pay of $205,000 is worth $177,500.
How it compares with similar-sized metro areas
| Metro area | Pay listed | Posted pay | Official wage | Prices | Paycheck power |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | 73.7% | $205,000 | $74,500 | 115.6 | $64,000 |
| Phoenix | 20.5% | $117,500 | $51,500 | 103.3 | $49,500 |
| Seattle | 61.3% | $182,500 | $72,500 | 111.1 | $65,500 |
| Boston | 59.8% | $159,000 | $66,500 | 108.3 | $61,500 |
| Miami | 21.2% | $115,000 | $48,500 | 114.2 | $42,500 |
| Minneapolis | 37.4% | $110,000 | $59,500 | 104.8 | $56,500 |
| Atlanta | 25.9% | $134,500 | $51,000 | 100.1 | $51,000 |
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) · posted vs official chart (SVG) · prices chart (SVG) · industries chart (SVG) · biggest jobs chart (SVG)
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Where its metro area ranks
- #1 highest of 99: Metro areas where employers say what the job pays
- #1 highest of 77: Median posted pay by metro area
- #1 highest of 99: Metro areas with the most remote job postings
- #1 highest of 99: Where job postings stay open the longest
- #2 highest of 99: Share of job postings open more than 60 days
- #2 lowest of 99: Metro areas with the most entry-level openings
- #5 highest of 99: Where a paycheck goes furthest: typical wage adjusted for local prices
- #1 highest of 99: Price levels by metro area (US average = 100)
- #2 highest of 99: Housing costs by metro area (US average = 100)
- #4 highest of 77: Posted pay adjusted for local prices
Postings that list several cities count in each one. This covers employers whose career pages we read, not every job in San Francisco. Methodology · All cities (CSV)
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