最适合做科技的十大城市

长期以来，美国的东西海岸都很能吸引到大批的科技人才，如果你确实喜欢在东西海岸生活也挺好。只有一个问题，而且是一个大问题：纽约、波士顿和硅谷等城市的生活成本变得太高，哪怕薪水远高于平均水平，可能也享受不到高于平均水平的生活质量，尤其是在住房方面。

那么，如果还是想找科技行业的职位该怎么办？要不要搬到中部地区的小城市？比如说哥伦布、达拉斯或者罗利，个人理财网站SmartAsset编制的第六份年度科技人才供不应求城市排行榜上，这几个城市占据了前三名，当地科技业非常缺人，所以薪资飙升，生活成本还不高。

为了编制排行榜，SmartAsset梳理了美国人口普查局、劳工统计局和其他来源的172个城市的数据，然后研究人员根据5项标准对数据进行对比，具体标准包括当地IT从业人口的百分比、科技业者的平均工资、同城科技业者薪资与各行各业平均薪资的比例、拥有学士或以上学历者的失业率，以及生活费用，包括花多少钱才能买到房。

根据以上指标，不难理解为什么俄亥俄州首府的哥伦布会连续三年获得第一名。仔细看一下：哥伦布科技业者的平均收入为92,400美元，比周边其他行业的平均薪资高出80%，生活成本却略低于全美平均水平。SmartAsset报告指出，排名第二的达拉斯也很不错，“科技行业规模相当大”（因此也就有更多的就业机会），总体生活成本也低于全美平均水平，IT业者的平均收入略高于哥伦布，为93,820美元。

以下是SmartAsset榜单上的前十名，以及当地IT行业的平均年薪：

1.俄亥俄州哥伦布——92,440美元

2.得克萨斯州达拉斯——93,820美元

3.北卡罗来纳州罗利——91,680美元

4.爱荷华州锡达拉皮兹——83,260美元

5.爱荷华州达文波特——83,090美元

6.爱荷华州得梅因——83,820美元

7.得克萨斯州圣安东尼奥——84,790美元

8.阿拉巴马州亨茨维尔（并列）——97,340美元

8.密苏里州圣路易斯市（并列）——84,140美元

10.得克萨斯州坦普尔——78,770美元

中西部和南部地区（包括得克萨斯州的三个城市）在榜单上平分秋色，但很多IT行业求职者从没有考虑过。此外，这些数字提供了鲜明的证据，说明选择城市时不仅应该考虑薪资，也要考虑其他很多因素。

以坦普尔为例，在十大上榜城市中该市科技业者平均薪资最低，但仍然比当地其他行业的平均收入高出79%，生活成本也相对较低。“基本上来说，你在坦普尔可能赚不到那么多钱。”报告指出，“但你的收入能够达到全市顶尖级别，钱也很经花。”

当心啦，加利福尼亚。（财富中文网）

译者：艾伦

审校：夏林

The two coasts have long been magnets for tech talent, and that’s fine if you really like living there. Just one problem, and it’s a big one: Places like New York, Boston, and Silicon Valley have become so exorbitantly expensive that even a way-fatter-than-average paycheck is probably not enough to buy a sweeter-than-average quality of life, especially when it comes to housing.

So what’s a tech job hunter to do? How about moving to a smallish city in the heartland, like Columbus, Dallas, or Raleigh? Those towns take the top 3 spots on SmartAsset’s sixth annual list of locations where tech talent is in such short supply that salaries are soaring—yet the cost of living is not.

To arrive at this ranking, personal-finance site SmartAsset combed through data on 172 cities from the Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and other sources. The researchers then compared the stats according to five criteria: Percentage of the local population employed in IT, average tech salaries, ratios of tech salaries to average salaries across all occupations in the same city, the unemployment rate for people with a bachelor’s degree or higher, and the cost of living, including what it will set you back to keep a roof over your head.

Given those metrics, it’s not hard to see why Columbus has won first place for three years running. Consider: The average tech employee in the capital of Ohio earns $92,440 — 80% more than the average pay across all other industries nearby. Yet the cost of living there is slightly below the national average. Second-ranked Dallas, which the report notes has “a fairly big tech scene” (hence even more job opportunities), isn’t bad, either. The overall cost of living is below the national average, too, and IT employees earn, on average, a little more than in Columbus: $93,820.

Here’s SmartAsset’s list of the Top Ten, with average IT salaries:

1. Columbus, OH — $92,440

2. Dallas, TX — $93,820

3. Raleigh, NC — $91,680

4. Cedar Rapids, IA — $83,260

5. Davenport, IA — $83,090

6. Des Moines, IA — $83,820

7. San Antonio, TX — $84,790

8. Huntsville, AL (tie) — $97,340

8. St. Louis, MO (tie) — $84,140

10. Temple, TX — $78,770

The list is evenly divided between two regions where many IT job seekers never think to look: The Midwest and the South (including three towns in Texas). Moreover, the numbers offer stark proof that, when you’re trying to decide where to hang your hat, it’s smart to take into account a lot more than just pay.

Temple, for instance, offers the lowest average compensation among the ten best cities, but that is still 79% higher than local residents make in other industries, and the relatively tiny cost of living there reflects that. “Essentially, you may not be making as much money in Temple,” the report says, “but you’ll be among the best-compensated workers in town, and your money will go far.”

Take that, California.