Side by side

Chicago vs San Diego

San Diego pays more: a median of $92,500 against $87,000. Demand is comparable on both sides. Listings for Chicago move faster — median age 41 days against 63.

Comparison

Side by side

MeasureChicagoSan DiegoGap
Open postings49,12839,556+9,572
Posted this week1,2881,459
Median salary$87,000$92,500$-5.5k
25th percentile$68.5k$73k
75th percentile$108k$115k
Salary disclosed8.7%5.0%
Remote share9.1%12.0%-2.9pp
Median age of posting41d63d
Open over 60 days46.2%45.1%
Visa sponsorship10.4%11.4%
Pay

Pay distribution

Chicago

$39k$151k

San Diego

$42k$160k
Freshness

How old the listings are

Chicago

just posted41d median90d+

San Diego

just posted63d median90d+
Demand

What each side asks for

Chicago — technologies

Go
72.0%
Azure
65.8%
GCP
59.6%
HubSpot
53.4%
Terraform
47.2%
Kotlin
41.0%
Java
34.8%

San Diego — technologies

Tableau
72.0%
Python
65.8%
dbt
59.6%
Swift
53.4%
Spark
47.2%
React
41.0%
Figma
34.8%

Chicago — employers

Pinewood Education
9.4%
Brightline Retail
8.7%
Northwind Systems
8.0%
Lakeshore Hospitality
7.2%
Halcyon Energy
6.5%
Beacon Robotics
5.8%
Ironbark Manufacturing
5.1%

San Diego — employers

Rivergate Media
9.4%
Fairmount Legal
8.7%
Cobalt Financial
8.0%
Ironbark Manufacturing
7.2%
Pinewood Education
6.5%
Umbra Security
5.8%
Lakeshore Hospitality
5.1%

Track this slice

A weekly note when openings, pay or freshness move for Chicago vs San Diego.

More comparisons

Other United States city comparisons

Both sides are counted the same way on the same day, so the gap is comparable even where the absolute numbers move. Salary figures use only postings that publish a range — the disclosure rate is in the table because a median over 20% of a cohort is a weaker number than one over 70%.