10 best cities for women in tech

Despite increasing media attention and awareness, the gender pay gap is widening across the U.S., according to new research from financial services research and advisory firm SmartAsset. The pay gap between men and women isn’t as pronounced in tech as it is in other fields, but it still exists.

There are some metro areas (e.g., Indianapolis and Washington, D.C), however, that offer a better quality of life for women in tech, based on the pay gap, cost of living and percentage of tech jobs filled by women, says A.J. Smith, vice president of content, SmartAsset.

“The takeaway here is that women in tech should look beyond the traditional tech hub cities to look for work, and for companies, they should step up their game to make sure they have the right elements in place to attract incredible female tech talent,” Smith says.

Methodology

SmartAsset looked at 59 of the largest U.S. cities in which there are enough tech workers to provide statistically reliable five-year estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2015 American Community Survey (ACS). Then, SmartAsset ranked those across four metrics:

• Gender pay gap
• Income after housing costs
• Women as percent of tech workforce
• The four-year tech employment growth.

These rankings were then averaged, giving full weight to the tech employment growth factor and double weight to the other three factors to create an index; a city that ranked first in every category would receive a 100, while a city that ranked last in every category would receive a zero. While none of the cities received a perfect 100, the higher the score, the better the environment for women in tech. Here are SmartAsset’s ranking of the top 10 best cities for women in technology.

1. Washington, DC

Gender Pay Gap: 94.8% Income after housing costs: $56,416 Tech jobs filled by women: 41.0% Four-year tech employment growth: 17% Index: 88.18

2. Kansas City, MO

Gender Pay Gap: 103.4% Income after housing costs: $59,150 Tech jobs filled by women: 30.3% Four-year tech employment growth: 10% Index: 83.25

3. Baltimore, MD

Gender Pay Gap: 88.4% Income after housing costs: $55,364 Tech jobs filled by women: 32.5% Four-year tech employment growth: 22% Index: 81.53

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4. Indianapolis, IN

Gender Pay Gap: 102.2% Income after housing costs: $51,393 Tech jobs filled by women: 28.5% Four-year tech employment growth: 11% Index: 73.65

5. New Orleans, LA

Gender Pay Gap: 99.8% Income after housing costs: $40,355 Tech jobs filled by women: 34.6% Four-year tech employment growth: 32% Index: 73.40

6. Fremont, CA

Gender Pay Gap: 84.1% Income after housing costs: $68,180 Tech jobs filled by women: 26.6% Four-year tech employment growth:28% Index: 71.43

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7. New York, NY

Gender Pay Gap: 90.1% Income after housing costs:$55,837 Tech jobs filled by women: 26.5% Four-year tech employment growth: 15% Index: 70.69

8. Detroit, MI

Gender Pay Gap: 104.6% Income after housing costs: $36,693 Tech jobs filled by women: 42.2% Four-year tech employment growth:19% Index: 70.20

9. Denver, CO

Gender Pay Gap: 94.3% Income after housing costs: $56,680 Tech jobs filled by women: 24.3% Four-year tech employment growth: 17% Index: 70.20

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10. Philadelphia, PA

Gender Pay Gap: 92.0% Income after housing costs: $47,622 Tech jobs filled by women: 32.3% Four-year tech employment growth: 14% Index: 69.95

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