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Jobs in San Jose, CA: pay, hiring and remote work
In San Jose, 53.4% of the 2,047 job postings we track list a pay range, and the median posted pay is $201,000 a year. 3.7% are remote, 8.4% are entry level, and 40% have been open for more than 60 days (data as of October 2026).
What stands out
- A $201,000 posted salary in the San Jose area buys about what $182,000 buys in the average US metro area, because prices here run 10% above the national average.
- Housing costs run 112% above the US average here (BEA regional price parities).
- After adjusting for local prices, the typical worker's official median wage ($84,000) is worth $76,000 in average-US dollars, 1st of 99 metro areas.
- 62.2% of open job postings list a pay range, 5th of 99 metro areas.
- 6.2% of postings are entry-level, 99th of 99 metro areas.
CA requires employers to include a pay range in job postings (since 2023).
San Jose is part of the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA metro area, with suburbs and nearby towns broken out.
The metro area's unemployment rate was 4.3% in 2026-08 (4.7% 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 18.7% below its February 2020 level and 11.1% 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 | $223,500 97 postings | software developers | $213,000 |
| People and recruiting | $161,000 17 postings | human resources specialists | $112,000 |
Official wages are the Bureau of Labor Statistics median annual wage for all workers in that occupation in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, 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 Jose
| Kind of job | Median posted pay | Postings with pay |
|---|---|---|
| Software engineering | $225,000 | 65 |
| Security and IT | $225,000 | 36 |
| Software developers | $223,500 | 97 |
| Marketing | $218,000 | 32 |
| Legal and compliance | $205,000 | 23 |
| Product and design | $200,000 | 39 |
| Engineering (other) | $185,000 | 32 |
| Finance and accounting | $164,500 | 19 |
| People and recruiting | $161,000 | 17 |
| Sales | $147,500 | 36 |
| Operations and logistics | $147,000 | 31 |
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 | 1208 |
| Financial Services | 143 |
| Consulting & Professional Services | 122 |
| Manufacturing & Industrial | 121 |
| Media & Entertainment | 110 |
| Other | 100 |
| Healthcare & Life Sciences | 86 |
| Real Estate & Construction | 52 |
| Retail & E-commerce | 43 |
| Logistics & Transportation | 17 |
| Insurance | 15 |
| Education | 15 |
Employers with the most openings
- Etched: 184 postings
- Archer56: 129 postings
- Cisco: 115 postings
- Asteralabs: 90 postings
- Adobe: 88 postings
What applications ask in San Jose
Among 418 application forms we read: 12.2% ask applicants for a salary expectation, 56.9% ask about visa sponsorship, 55.7% include the equal-opportunity section, and 19.9% carry an AI-use notice. Question wording only; no applicant answers are ever collected.
What your paycheck buys here
Prices in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA area run 10% above the national average, and housing runs 112% above it. The official median wage for all jobs is $84,000, which is worth $76,000 in average-US dollars. The median posted pay of $201,000 is worth $182,000.
How it compares with similar-sized metro areas
| Metro area | Pay listed | Posted pay | Official wage | Prices | Paycheck power |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Jose | 62.2% | $201,000 | $84,000 | 110.4 | $76,000 |
| Las Vegas | 24.6% | $86,500 | $46,500 | 100.2 | $46,500 |
| San Antonio | 20.9% | $113,000 | $47,000 | 94.7 | $49,500 |
| Pittsburgh | 27.9% | $180,000 | $49,500 | 94.7 | $52,500 |
| Columbus | 25.7% | $135,000 | $51,500 | 95.5 | $54,000 |
| Indianapolis | 9.9% | $100,000 | $49,500 | 95.7 | $51,500 |
| Cincinnati | 20.5% | $98,000 | $50,000 | 95.4 | $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) · posted vs official chart (SVG) · prices chart (SVG) · industries chart (SVG) · biggest jobs chart (SVG)
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Where its metro area ranks
- #5 highest of 99: Metro areas where employers say what the job pays
- #2 highest of 77: Median posted pay by metro area
- #1 lowest of 99: Metro areas with the most entry-level openings
- #1 highest of 99: Where a paycheck goes furthest: typical wage adjusted for local prices
- #1 highest of 99: Housing costs by metro area (US average = 100)
- #3 highest of 77: Posted pay adjusted for local prices
- #2 lowest of 19: How far software developer pay postings run above official wages
Postings that list several cities count in each one. This covers employers whose career pages we read, not every job in San Jose. Methodology · All cities (CSV)
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