With U.S. tech salaries at a 5-year-low, here’s how to make more money

Though average tech salaries hover at the $158,000 mark (nearly double the average U.S. knowledge worker), the combined impact of layoffs in the tech sector, hiring freezes, inflation and the explosion of generative AI have resulted in salary stagnation across the board.

The survey of more than 1,300 tech professionals reported that 54% of workers haven’t seen their salary rise at the rate of inflation. Once it’s factored in, salaries are down 6% for remote workers and 9% for those in-office roles, compared to 2022.

Experienced employees were less likely to see their salary decrease, while junior staffers (those with less than four years of experience) are seeing the most dramatic dip at nearly 5% year on year.

This, alongside a drop in demand for less experienced roles (down from 45% in 2019 to 25% in the first half of 2023), means this cohort will be feeling the pinch the most.

As if they weren’t already tricky enough, salary negotiations can be even more challenging during times of big market changes or uncertainty. So how can you earn more money? Read on for some tips on increasing your earning potential

Information is power, so make sure to research your role and industry’s average salaries (taking into account experience and location) so that you know your worth before entering into any salary conversations.

You can use online salary calculators, scour competitors’ hiring pages for salary band info (many states, including California, Washington, Colorado and New York City, mandate the inclusion of a salary range in job postings), or simply ask colleagues and friends who are in similar fields.

As the tech landscape has developed and matured, so too have the variety of roles, with almost every single industry needing tech workers of some kind.

To widen your pool, explore job openings at places beyond traditional tech companies. Industries whose core offering isn’t technology-based would have been less affected by recent volatility.

Earning more money isn’t just about salary but about actual living expenses. The Hired report showed that, once you adjust for the cost of living, workers in cities like Houston, Atlanta, Philadelphia and Phoenix were offered $40K more than their counterparts in San Francisco.

Many employers have decreased the number of open roles in high-cost-of-living markets. For example, positions based in San Francisco dropped from 38% in 2020 to just 19% in the first half of 2023. In the meantime, jobs in lower cost-of-living markets more than quadrupled, from 2% in 2020 to 9% in the first half of 2023.