2025 San Francisco Tech Salary Guide
The San Francisco Tech Salary Guide from Motion Recruitment provides projected salaries for San Francisco tech professionals in 2025. This comprehensive guide contains salary information for more than 100 tech positions, as well as expert analysis on the changing tech landscape in San Francisco and the most recent industry advancements.
Get your 2025 IT Salary Guide
IT Salaries and Tech Market Insights for San Francisco in 2025
Motion's 2025 IT Salary Guide for San Francisco offers guidance for those pursuing tech careers or looking to recruit tech talent. With tech unemployment rates lower than the national average, having the right info on the tech market is key.
Map Out Your 2025 Strategy for the San Francisco Tech Hiring Market
with Expert Insights & Salary Data
San Francisco, the heart of the tech industry, has seen the most extreme fluctuations over the past five years. However, along with the rest of the nation, it has seen the IT market stabilize and return to steady growth.
In this current market, having info on the latest tech trends and salary data is vital for IT job seekers and hiring managers in San Fran. That's why Motion's San Francisco 2025 Guide explores the important topics in the tech job market and starting salary information for top tech roles in San Francisco.
Topics include how the national tech job postings now exceed 500,000 each month, the ongoing shortage of cybersecurity professionals has reached 4 million globally, and despite concerns about technology replacing jobs, the rise of AI is actually strengthening the tech workforce.
.
30.6%
Above the national average
San Francisco tech salaries are 30.6% above the national average. Unsurprisingly, San Francisco is the city with the highest salaries in tech.
48%
AI is leading to job growth, not layoffs
San Francisco workers should find out how AI is impacting their career path. 48% of organizations say that they are adding personnel due to an increase in AI, as opposed to the 19% that are looking to downsize.
Emerging Tech in San Francisco: AI and Beyond
In the San Francisco tech world, artificial intelligence continues to be a major topic of conversation, capturing the interest of innovators, investors, and businesses alike who are eager to explore its potential for transforming industries. However, significant investment and job growth are also being seen in emerging technologies like digital twins, which are garnering attention for their ability to create dynamic, real-time simulations of physical objects, systems, or processes. The global market for digital twins is projected to reach an impressive $75 billion by 2027.
Q: What Advice Would You Give Tech Job Seekers and Hiring Managers in 2025?
From John Rosenbaum, Chief Information Officer at Motion Recruitment:
"Navigating the tech industry in 2025 will demand more than technical expertise; it will require adaptability, continuous learning, and the ability to navigate the evolving landscape of AI, cybersecurity, and digital transformation. With a growing shift toward skills-based hiring, job seekers must highlight their impact and practical abilities. Similarly, employers should prioritize proven outcomes and demonstrated expertise to make more strategic hiring decisions."
What will I find in Motion's IT Salary Guide?
- The state of tech employment in 2025, with the impact of layoffs, economic conditions, IT job creation and the tech talent shortage.
- How the tech industry has finally stabilized after five years of peaks and valleys.
- Emerging technology: the tech skills and sectors businesses are hiring for in 2025.
- Tech hiring and workplace trends, including tech workers heading back to the office, the move to skills-based hiring, and the golden generation in tech.
- Advice from market experts on what you can do to succeed in 2025.
You will find starting salaries for mid and senior level ranges for over 100 specific job titles across technology areas. There are also city-specific variances included, which you can use to measure the regional salary ranges per tech job.
You will see IT salaries for top roles from the most in demand technology areas: Software, Data & AI, Security, Infrastructure & DevOps, Mobile, Functional, Product & UX and Executive.
Local IT salary guides
Download city-specific salary guides below:
Latest Salary Trends Insights
Visit our BlogMotion Recruitment
4 min read
How to Use the 2025 Tech Salary Guide to Maximize Your Job Search
Motion Recruitment
6 min read
5 Ways Hiring Managers Can Leverage Motion Recruitment's Tech Salary Guide
Motion Recruitment
4 min read
The 3 Latest UI/UX Trends and Highest Paying Jobs in the Market
Tech Specific Salary Guides
Find technology-specific insights for top IT roles and salary guides below.
Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity Engineer, Pen Tester, Security Architect, and more
Software
Python Developer, Platform Engineer, Ruby on Rails Developer, and more
Data Science
Data Scientist, Data Warehouse Analyst, Data Architect, and more
Machine Learning
Machine Learning Engineer, Computer Vision Engineer, and more
Cloud Computing
Cloud Engineer, Cloud Architect, and more
Data Engineering
AI Engineer, Data Modeler, Database Engineer, and more
DevOps
DevOps Engineer, DevOps Architect/Coach, and more
Front End
Javascript Developer, Angular Developer, React Developer, and more
Network Engineer
Network Security Engineer, Site Reliability Engineer, Network Architect, and more
DotNet
DotNet Architect, DotNet Developer, and more
Java
Java Architect, Java Developer, and more
Previous Salary Guides
Tech Hiring Market
Mid-Year Update
2024
Tech Salary Guide
North America
2024
Tech Salary Guide
North America
2023
Interested in a new role? Start your search now.
Find your next job among the thousands of current opportunities on our job board.
Motion Recruitment is an equal opportunity employer.
Frequently Asked Questions
In San Francisco, a "good" IT salary can vary significantly based on the specific role and experience level. Here are some indicative salary ranges for various IT positions:
Cloud Architect:
- Mid-Level: $149,615 to $176,666
- Senior-Level: The document provided does not include specific ranges for senior-level, but expectations can be similar or higher than mid-level.
Cloud Engineer:
- Mid-Level: $122,241 to $152,930
- Senior-Level: $137,396 to $177,349
DevOps Engineer
- Mid-Level: $122,761 to $153,809
- Senior-Level: $146,559 to $173,590
Software Development roles such as Python Developer, Java Developer, etc., have a range that starts from approximately $100,645 for developers and can go up to $210,000 for roles like .Net Architect.
Site Reliability Engineer:
- Mid-Level: $125,210 to $150,000
- Senior-Level: $145,400 to $175,500
Technical Support Analyst:
- Mid-Level: $68,055 to $83,611
- Senior-Level: $85,240 to $91,320
These figures reflect a considerable range of salaries within the IT sector, signifying that a "good" salary is also dependent on the role and the level of expertise required.
The IT job with the highest salary in San Francisco is the Chief Security Officer, with a salary range of $229,000 to $380,979.
The latest data states that tech salaries have increased in 2024, continuing a trend of gradual but continuous growth.
San Francisco IT job growth in 2024 was influenced by several key factors:
- Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning: AI and machine learning roles were among the highest priorities for many businesses looking to transform in the upcoming years. There was a significant focus on reskilling in AI and Big Data, driven by substantial investments and expected market revenue growth.
- Generative AI Technology: There's a marked growth in generative AI technologies, which impacted job growth through increased demand for tech professionals skilled in these areas. Companies were investing heavily in AI processors within data centers, leading to an estimated quadrupling of spending by 2025.
- Compensation and Talent Availability: High compensation for AI-focused roles was notable, with some roles offering significant salary boosts compared to non-AI roles. The availability of skilled candidates in AI, although challenging, improved year-over-year, which influenced job market dynamics.
These trends highlight how technological advancements, particularly in AI, impacted the San Francisco IT job market in 2024.