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Jobs in Seattle, WA: pay, hiring and remote work
In Seattle, 75.2% of the 2,403 job postings we track list a pay range, and the median posted pay is $188,000 a year. 12.9% are remote, 5.6% are entry level, and 41.6% have been open for more than 60 days (data as of October 2026).
What stands out
- A $182,500 posted salary in the Seattle area buys about what $164,000 buys in the average US metro area, because prices here run 11% above the national average.
- After adjusting for local prices, the typical worker's official median wage ($72,500) is worth $65,500 in average-US dollars, 3rd of 99 metro areas.
- Housing costs run 51% above the US average here (BEA regional price parities).
- 61.3% of open job postings list a pay range, 6th of 99 metro areas.
- 41.8% of open postings have been listed for more than 60 days (median 44 days), 5th highest of 99 metro areas.
WA requires employers to include a pay range in job postings (since 2023).
Seattle is part of the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA metro area, with suburbs and nearby towns broken out.
The metro area's unemployment rate was 4.8% in 2026-08 (4.8% a year earlier) (BLS, not seasonally adjusted). Across Washington, employers had 110,000 job openings in 2025-12, an openings rate of 2.9% (BLS JOLTS). Indeed's own measure of job postings in the metro area is 32.4% below its February 2020 level and 5.6% 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 | $210,000 308 postings | software developers | $167,500 |
| People and recruiting | $150,000 33 postings | human resources specialists | $93,000 |
| Data scientists | $204,500 20 postings | data scientists | $164,500 |
Official wages are the Bureau of Labor Statistics median annual wage for all workers in that occupation in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA 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 Seattle
| Kind of job | Median posted pay | Postings with pay |
|---|---|---|
| Security and IT | $219,000 | 70 |
| Software developers | $210,000 | 308 |
| Software engineering | $205,000 | 115 |
| Data scientists | $204,500 | 20 |
| Legal and compliance | $194,000 | 50 |
| Product and design | $187,500 | 90 |
| Finance and accounting | $183,500 | 41 |
| Marketing | $180,000 | 55 |
| Customer support and success | $175,500 | 31 |
| Nursing and clinical care | $169,000 | 16 |
| Engineering (other) | $157,500 | 51 |
| Sales | $157,000 | 99 |
| People and recruiting | $150,000 | 33 |
| Data and analytics | $135,000 | 21 |
| Operations and logistics | $133,500 | 76 |
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 | 1001 |
| Financial Services | 235 |
| Real Estate & Construction | 182 |
| Logistics & Transportation | 165 |
| Healthcare & Life Sciences | 164 |
| Manufacturing & Industrial | 138 |
| Other | 134 |
| Consulting & Professional Services | 114 |
| Retail & E-commerce | 112 |
| Media & Entertainment | 78 |
| Energy & Utilities | 36 |
| Education | 31 |
Employers with the most openings
- Anthropic: 183 postings
- Shieldai: 137 postings
- DoorDash USA: 134 postings
- Andurilindustries: 96 postings
- Axon: 63 postings
What applications ask in Seattle
Among 628 application forms we read: 19.7% ask applicants for a salary expectation, 86.3% ask about visa sponsorship, 68.9% include the equal-opportunity section, and 8.8% carry an AI-use notice. Question wording only; no applicant answers are ever collected.
What your paycheck buys here
Prices in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA area run 11% above the national average, and housing runs 51% above it. The official median wage for all jobs is $72,500, which is worth $65,500 in average-US dollars. The median posted pay of $182,500 is worth $164,000.
How it compares with similar-sized metro areas
| Metro area | Pay listed | Posted pay | Official wage | Prices | Paycheck power |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seattle | 61.3% | $182,500 | $72,500 | 111.1 | $65,500 |
| Minneapolis | 37.4% | $110,000 | $59,500 | 104.8 | $56,500 |
| Detroit | 19.1% | $145,000 | $52,000 | 100.3 | $52,000 |
| San Francisco | 73.7% | $205,000 | $74,500 | 115.6 | $64,000 |
| Phoenix | 20.5% | $117,500 | $51,500 | 103.3 | $49,500 |
| Riverside | 48.9% | $106,500 | $48,500 | 106.4 | $45,500 |
| Boston | 59.8% | $159,000 | $66,500 | 108.3 | $61,500 |
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)
Related pages
- Metro area: Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA
- State: Washington
- Compare the metro area with others
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 Seattle. Methodology · All cities (CSV)
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