Top 10 cities where cloud engineers make good money

Allegany joins other West Coast cities in the upper rankings of this list with the average cloud engineer annual salary sitting 31% above the national average. A cloud engineer's average yearly income is $160,964, or $184,9749 with over two years of experience, according to Indeed.com. Organizations such as Intel and IBM maintain a solid presence in the area.

Seattle’s ongoing tech boom has helped it quickly grow into one of the most attractive cities for tech enterprises, with one of the highest retention rates among employees. Bellevue sits just across Lake Washington from the Seattle metropolitan area and, at an average annual salary of $148,565 according to Indeed.com, is the highest-paying city in the state. Plus, coffee.

Cambridge is one corner of the U.K.’s golden triangle, with billions of dollars in government funding split between its sister cities of Oxford and London. The city is also popular among ex-students from its prestigious university, who make up a healthy portion of its talent pipeline. Additionally, startups are able to take advantage of the city’s network of angel investors to acquire funding; in 2020, Cambridge-based companies received $6.7 billion in investment, according to Tech Nation’s 2021 Report.

If you often find yourself "traveling in a fried-out Kombi on a hippie trail head full of zombie" you may be interested in the land down under’s own capital city Canberra. 

Sitting at 82% above the Australian national average for yearly salary, Canberra is the highest-paying city for cloud architects in Australia. With an average annual salary of $140,360 according to Indeed.com, it is the second city on our list outside of the U.S., and located in between Sydney and Melbourne.

Vegemite sandwich or Men at Work concert, anyone? 

Yes. That's right. The state of Iowa has long been a subtle but consistent source of homegrown tech startups in the U.S. Through programs such as the ISU Startup Factory, the tech sector has been able to take advantage of the Iowa State University talent pipeline to its benefit. While Des Moines appeared in 18th place in CompTIA’s 2021 Tech Town Index, it is the city of Johnston that takes the lead in the cloud space with an average annual salary of $141,058.

What else is there to do in Johnston? Well, the Bob Shelter Picnic Area gets rave reviews on Tripadvisor! See the picture above.

In 2022, New York City appeared in CompTIA’s annual Tech Town Index for the first time, beating out the competition for the number of IT jobs available with 204,883 positions. The Big Apple’s tech sector has seen very strong growth since 2020, thanks to the deepening relationship it has with the tech world’s top hyperscalers. According to the New York City Economic Development Corp. (NYCEDC), hyperscalers like Google and Meta have integrated almost 4 million square feet of office space in Manhattan alone. With an average annual salary of $154,626 per year, New York City is a solid choice for cloud architects with the ambition to work with the most powerful players in the industry.

Grab your toque, North York, Ontario, is the highest-paying city in Canada for cloud engineers, with an average annual salary of $148,957 according to Indeed.com. Aside from socialized healthcare, residents of the Toronto suburb also enjoy historic attractions such as the Bata Shoe Museum. Famous resident author Margaret Atwood can often be seen there checking out Elton John's famous platform shoes (above) on exhibit. 

San Mateo, Calif., is currently the highest-paying city for cloud engineers in the U.S., with an average annual salary $210,200,according to Indeed.com. In fact, the San Francisco Bay Area has remained highly populated with cloud architects, topping the salary lists with other cities like Santa Clara. Few things are more certain in life than opportunities for economic advancement for Californian cloud engineers due to the sheer number of organizations hiring.

The U.S. has remained at the top of the global list for cloud engineers since the career was invented, so it’s no surprise that the nation’s capital is the second city on this list. According to Indeed.com, Washington, D.C., offers a citywide average salary of $135,435, with many employees with over two years of experience making an average of $152,004 annually.

Another plus: all those free Smithsonian Museums to keep you busy on the weekends.

Just south of the Boston metropolitan area, Westwood is the highest paying city for cloud engineers on the East Coast, with an average annual salary of $167,332. According to Indeed.com, after two years of experience, technicians can expect to make an average of $192,058 a year. It is the relatively low cost of living in Westwood that has contributed to its growth in popularity. With companies like Oracle, Cisco Systems ,and UKG all active in the area, Westwood is a promising location for cloud engineers – plus Boston is wicked cool. 

Read all of our Top 10 lists here.