Top cities to hire software engineers
Karat ranks the top-40 cities to hire software engineers based on data from 500,000+ technical interviews, labor costs, and market size.
The top cities to hire software engineers
Karat’s fourth annual ranking of the top cities to hire software engineers examines the dramatic evolution of tech hiring. To capture the increased mobility of tech talent in the post-pandemic world, we’ve tweaked our ranking methodology. Instead of solely relying on candidate locations based on resume data like we’ve done in previous years, the 2025 report also incorporates role locations.
This change gives us a fascinating glimpse into not just where top tech talent lives today, but also into where it is moving and underscores the trends that are shaping today’s race for top talent.
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Report Highlights:
Washington, D.C.
The biggest riser based on this year’s new methodology, DC jumps to the top of the US rankings as the multi-year trend of software companies and developers expanding beyond tech hubs continues.
Bangalore
India’s top engineering talent is consolidating into the Global Capability Centers (GCCs) of Bangalore. Last year, one in every three new GCCs chose Bangalore as their home, propelling the city into the top-5 for the first time.
Remote
Post-pandemic worker mobility continues to diversify where top talent lives. If “remote” was a city, it would have the highest concentration of elite engineers in the U.S. Return-to-office plans will pressure test this trend in 2025.
What city is right for your software hiring needs?
Check out the full report for detailed city rankings based on the concentrations of top engineers and total volume of tech talent. Learn more about each city’s areas of specialization and competitors to shape your talent strategy and hire with confidence.
Report
Full top city rankings
