Seattle technical recruiting startup Karat ranked the top cities around the world for hiring the best software engineers, and Seattle ranks at or near the top in two different categories, according to a report released Wednesday.
In a list of 30 cities with the highest concentrations of “elite” candidates, Seattle ranks first in the U.S. and third globally. Those cities have at least 10,000 total software engineers living in the greater metropolitan area, according to Karat, and the candidates are software engineers who perform in the top quartile of all technical interviews globally, based on Karat’s dataset of more than 350,000 interviews.
Seattle ranked behind Amsterdam, which took the top spot in the elite ranking, and Tokyo, and ahead of the San Francisco Bay Area.
In a ranking of “strong” candidates, which includes engineers who fall out of the top quartile but still perform well in technical interviews, Seattle tied for the top spot with the Bay Area and Vancouver, B.C.
Elite candidates command premium compensation and often have the opportunity to choose between multiple competing job offers, Karat reported. The broader strong candidate base tends to form the backbone of most software engineering teams.
Among the top cities for elite engineers, half are located in the U.S., including four of the top 10. Eight of Karat’s top cities are located in Asia, including six in India — the most of any country outside of the U.S.
According to Karat’s data, Seattle has 95,000 software engineers, commanding a median compensation of $220,000 per year. The Bay Area, by comparison, has 166,600 software engineers making roughly $242,000 per year.
Here’s how Karat described Seattle in its report:
Home to tech giants like Amazon and Microsoft, the greater Seattle area is a powerhouse in software engineering. The median salary is $220,000, reflecting the competitive nature of the market. Cloud computing, e-commerce, and AI are prominent areas of expertise, aligning with the strengths of the region’s major players, with a robust startup ecosystem providing even more opportunities for candidates.
While Amsterdam tops the list of elite cities, its total number of high-performing candidates is just 10,100, while Bangalore, India, is further down the list at No. 15 even though there are 360,300 engineers.
Founded in 2014, Karat is ranked No. 16 on the GeekWire 200 ranked index of Pacific Northwest startups. The company is led by Mo Bhende, a former director for Xbox at Microsoft, and co-founder Jeff Spector, who previously was chief of staff to Melinda French Gates at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The startup uses a network of vetted interviewers who run the interviews via video conference, using a question format and scoring rubric based on research and analysis done by Karat. Companies receive feedback on the top qualified applicants, based on Karat’s due diligence, as well as insights about their hiring process. The idea is to help companies screen more candidates while freeing up their own employees from interviewing responsibilities.
