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Jobs in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA area: pay, hiring and remote work
The San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA metro area has 5,981 open job postings from 419 employers in our data. 62.2% list a pay range, the median posted pay is $201,000 a year, 8.7% are remote and 38.1% have been open 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.
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).
City by city inside the metro area
| Place | Postings | Employers | Pay listed | Median posted pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Jose, CA | 2047 | 180 | 53.4% | $201,000 |
| Santa Clara, CA | 994 | 68 | 62.3% | $203,000 |
| Mountain View, CA | 832 | 77 | 85.8% | $200,000 |
| Palo Alto, CA | 806 | 88 | 61.2% | $205,000 |
| Sunnyvale, CA | 779 | 59 | 67.8% | $200,000 |
| Milpitas, CA | 403 | 22 | 52.2% | $200,000 |
| Cupertino, CA | 45 | 10 | n/a | – |
| Campbell, CA | 26 | 12 | n/a | – |
Places with at least 15 postings from 3 employers. Shading shows where median posted pay is higher. Pay figures need 8 postings with pay.
City pages: San Jose.
Posted pay vs official wages
| Kind of job | Median posted pay | Closest official occupation | Official median wage (BLS, May 2025) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Data scientists | $179,500 19 postings | data scientists | $185,000 |
| Software developers | $211,000 515 postings | software developers | $213,000 |
| People and recruiting | $155,000 55 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
| Kind of job | Median posted pay | Postings with pay |
|---|---|---|
| Software engineering | $220,000 | 209 |
| Software developers | $211,000 | 515 |
| Security and IT | $210,000 | 122 |
| Legal and compliance | $208,500 | 59 |
| Product and design | $203,000 | 163 |
| Data and analytics | $198,500 | 20 |
| Marketing | $197,000 | 104 |
| Engineering (other) | $185,000 | 95 |
| Nursing and clinical care | $181,000 | 18 |
| Data scientists | $179,500 | 19 |
| Sales | $166,500 | 108 |
| Finance and accounting | $166,500 | 56 |
| Customer support and success | $155,000 | 23 |
| People and recruiting | $155,000 | 55 |
| Operations and logistics | $151,000 | 115 |
| Accountants | $110,000 | 11 |
Who is hiring, by industry
| Industry | Postings |
|---|---|
| Software & Technology | 3432 |
| Manufacturing & Industrial | 796 |
| Healthcare & Life Sciences | 231 |
| Media & Entertainment | 228 |
| Other | 224 |
| Energy & Utilities | 208 |
| Financial Services | 181 |
| Consulting & Professional Services | 170 |
| Logistics & Transportation | 158 |
| Real Estate & Construction | 152 |
| Retail & E-commerce | 125 |
| Telecommunications | 33 |
| Insurance | 26 |
| Education | 17 |
Employers with the most openings
- Nvidia: 423 postings
- KLA: 241 postings
- Etched: 184 postings
- Coreweave: 164 postings
- Cisco: 156 postings
Federal government hiring
59 federal job announcements open to the public list San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA, with a median posted salary range midpoint of $108,000. Agencies hiring most: Veterans Health Administration (18), Federal Aviation Administration (17), Department of State Headquarters (6), Internal Revenue Service (5), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (2). Source: USAJOBS, 2026-10-10.
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)
Related pages
- State pages: California
- Compare San Jose with other metro areas
- Paycheck calculator: what a salary in San Jose is worth elsewhere
- Mentioned in: October 2026 report
Where it 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
A posting that lists several places counts once in the metro. Metro areas are the Census Bureau's 2023 definitions. This covers employers whose career pages we read, not every job in the area. Methodology · All metro areas (CSV)