The average wages for industries in the United States went up by 3.1 percent for 2014 to reach $51,364 according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Chronicle ran last year's numbers, parsed out by commercial real estate services firm JLL, to highlight the tech industry share of it all. In San Francisco, they discovered, workers in the technology sector saw their wages — salary, bonuses, income on stock options, severance pay, meals, and more — increase by 12.8 percent from 2013, moving to $176,275 from $156,518.
Last year, the Chronicle registered that 2013 salaries were up 19 percent from 2012, so you could call this year is a slowdown and be technically right. The fields JLL considered as tech were "computer/electronic product manufacturing, electrical equipment manufacturing, e-retailers, online auctions, computer systems design, data processing and hosting, software publishers, and other information services."
But why pay more to live and work in San Francisco when you could make more and live on (a bit) less in San Mateo County? The 2013 numbers there were particularly high thanks to the Facebook effect, the dial moving on $3.3 billion stock option gains for Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. “It’s crazy how just one company can move the needle, but San Mateo’s tech-job base is small” said Amber Schiada, JLL Vice President. So all in all for 2014, San Mateo average tech wages were down 23 percent — to $240,663. Factoring out Facebook, they were up from roughly $210,000.
Santa Clara County might also tempt technologists — the average tech company wage there was up 8.4 percent in 2014 to $211,874. Alameda and Contra Costa counties saw a six percent rise last year to $121,747. Recapping the top three — this is nationwide:
San Mateo County: $240,663
-23.5%
Santa Clara County: 211,874
+8.4
San Francisco: $176,275
+12.8
Related: These Are The Average Salaries In SF's Top Industries
