$500K Jobs Are 'A Dime A Dozen' In The Bay Area, Study Says

SAN FRANCISCO — High-paying jobs are “a dime a dozen” in the Bay Area, according to management services company ADP, which recently analyzed pay by metro area to determine where the highest percentage of residents make more than $500,000 per year.

“The San Francisco Bay Area, home to Silicon Valley’s tech giants, vastly outranked every other metro in terms of high-paying jobs, including those paying more than $1 million or $2 million annually,” according to ADP.

About 1 in 48 jobs pay over $500,000 per year in the Bay Area, more than double No. 2-ranked metro Austin, ADP found. In the San Diego metro, ranked No. 8, that statistic is roughly 1 in 108, while in the 12th-ranked Los Angeles metro it is 1 in 119. Nationally, the number is about 1 in 127.

ADP used adjusted anonymized payroll data based on administrative records to provide a view of top earners that is more detailed than the available government data.

“The Bay Area’s considerable lead likely reflects not just the dominance of tech in its economy and workforce, but also its position as the nucleus for the industry’s top talent and the corporate giants that rely most heavily on their expertise,” according to ADP, which added that local housing costs are also a factor.

See which metros nationwide have the highest percentage of high-paying jobs.