New York vs. San Francisco
Software Developers. Median, spread and buying power, side by side.
Data released May 2025
BLS OEWS · SOC 15-1252
Fig. 1 — Side by side
Both distributions, one scale
10th to 90th percentile, median struck in red
Table 1 — Adjusted
San Francisco's median is 11.9% higher — but after local prices, San Francisco still leads by 8.9%.
New York's median $166,830 buys $148,200 at national prices (price parity 112.6); San Francisco's $186,640 buys $161,400 (115.6).
Table 2 — The figures
Point by point
Published percentiles for both metros; the last column is San Francisco against New York.
| New York | San Francisco | Δ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employment | 121,000 | 69,030 | −43.0% |
| 10th percentile | $101,690 | $128,090 | +26.0% |
| 25th percentile | $130,650 | $163,500 | +25.1% |
| Median | $166,830 | $186,640 | +11.9% |
| 75th percentile | $205,970 | $219,670 | +6.7% |
| 90th percentile | $224,590 | $273,400 | +21.7% |
Sources
How this page was made
- Wage data
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 release. Public domain.
- Price parity
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.
- Full pages
- Software Developers in New York · Software Developers in San Francisco
Percentiles are reported exactly as released. Derived (price-adjusted) figures round to the nearest hundred. We take no payment for how any figure is presented.