Artificial intelligence continues to reshape industries, expand career paths and generate economic opportunity. Yet while tech giants on the coasts dominate headlines, many professionals are asking where the best balance of opportunity and affordability lies. To help answer that question, an in-depth analysis of AI job opportunities across U.S. cities was conducted on behalf of Youngstown State University (YSU).
The research reviewed job postings, salaries, company ecosystems and cost-of-living adjustments between 2023 and 2025. The findings provide a clearer picture of where today’s professionals, along with soon-to-be college graduates and prospective students, can build sustainable, rewarding careers in a growing field.
Key Takeaways
- Silicon Valley still leads in AI job volume and startups, but Southern and Midwestern metros deliver stronger cost-of-living adjusted salary values.
- Austin, Houston, Raleigh, and Jacksonville are emerging AI hubs, driven by high adjusted pay, startup growth and lower living costs.
- Southern cities offer the strongest real earnings power, with Austin ($252K), Jacksonville ($249K) and Houston ($242K) leading the nation in cost-adjusted AI salaries, outpacing coastal hubs.
Where AI Jobs Are Concentrated Across America
The interactive table below compares U.S. cities based on their overall potential for AI career growth. Each received a final score out of 100, calculated by analyzing five key metrics that capture both the availability and sustainability of opportunities in the field:
- AI job postings per capita: Measures how many AI-related roles are available relative to population size
- Cost-of-living adjusted salaries: Reflects how far AI salaries go once local living expenses are considered
- AI companies per capita: Shows the concentration of startups and established companies driving AI innovation in each city
- Remote and hybrid AI jobs: Indicates flexibility for professionals seeking nontraditional work arrangements
- AI job search interest: Reveals local demand and engagement with AI careers based on online search activity
The following rankings bring these factors together to highlight the top-performing metros.
- Silicon Valley still leads in job posting volume and AI company density, though cost-of-living adjusted salaries often fall mid-tier.
- Lower-cost Sun Belt and Southern metros, such as Austin, Jacksonville, Raleigh and Houston, excel in cost-adjusted salary rankings, offering stronger “real pay” than many coastal hubs where the cost of living is higher.
- Cities that rank high for remote and hybrid AI jobs also score well in the overall final rank (e.g., Oakland and Atlanta). The mix of remote and hybrid roles appears to boost attractiveness, especially in places where raw salaries or startup density aren’t the absolute highest.
- Even though search interest is only one factor, cities that show high demand in search volume — like Atlanta, San Francisco and Seattle — tend to be places where the ecosystem is growing or where there are already many postings and companies.
Top 10 Cities for AI Career Opportunities
- San Francisco, California
- Oakland, California
- Atlanta, Georgia
- Washington, DC
- Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Austin, Texas
- Boston, Massachusetts
- Seattle, Washington
- San Jose, California
- Raleigh, North Carolina
Bottom 10 Cities for AI Career Opportunities
- Colorado Springs, Colorado
- Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
- Virginia Beach, Virginia
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- Memphis, Tennessee
- Omaha, Nebraska
- Albuquerque, New Mexico
- Phoenix, Arizona
- New York, New York
Comparing Cities on Job Market Factors
The chart below shows which U.S. cities ranked at the top and bottom for the five factors that shaped their overall scores, along with raw salary data for additional context. These extremes illustrate how different places perform when it comes to job availability, pay, company presence, flexible work and local demand.
Oakland, San Francisco, Long Beach, San Jose and Washington, DC, rank highest for AI job postings per 100,000 residents.
- Raw salaries (nominal pay): San Jose ($195K), San Francisco ($191K) and Oakland ($186K) remain the nation’s top-paying AI markets, followed by Seattle ($174K) and New York ($167K). Smaller metros, such as Virginia Beach ($104K), Albuquerque ($116K) and Omaha ($135K), lag far behind.
- Cost-adjusted salaries (real pay): Austin ($252K), Jacksonville ($249K) and Houston ($242K) lead the country once salaries are measured against local living costs. San Francisco, San Jose and New York fall behind despite high nominal pay.
Mid-sized cities, such as Fort Worth ($226K) and Raleigh ($226K), demonstrate strong competitiveness with traditional tech hubs.
Methodology
To identify the top U.S. cities for AI job opportunities, data was analyzed on behalf of YSU. Multiple datasets covering job postings, salaries, company ecosystems and search interest between 2023 and 2025 were studied. The approach included:
- AI Job Postings (Source: Indeed)
- AI-related job postings for major U.S. cities were scraped from this site.
- Only postings requiring at least a bachelor’s degree were included.
- Both full-time and part-time postings were counted.
- Roles analyzed included: AI engineer, automation engineer, AI agent, generative AI, AI engineering, AI automation, AI modeling, AI product manager, machine learning researcher and AI leader.
- Salary Data (Source: Indeed/Numbeo)
- Salary information was collected directly from Indeed job postings.
- When salaries appeared as ranges, the midpoint (average) was calculated.
- All salaries were normalized to reflect annual averages for consistency across roles and cities.
- These figures were then adjusted for cost of living using Numbeo’s Cost of Living Index (benchmark: New York City = 100).
- Search Interest (Source: Google Trends)
- Search activity from 2023 to 2025 was measured for queries related to AI jobs, including: “remote AI jobs,” “entry level AI jobs,” “AI jobs salary,” “AI training jobs,” “AI jobs remote,” “open AI jobs,” “AI engineer jobs,” “AI prompt engineer jobs,” “AI trainer jobs,” “jobs in AI,” and “AI product manager jobs.”
- Search interest was indexed on a per-capita basis (per 100,000 residents) to compare cities of different population sizes.
- AI Ecosystem Strength (Source: Crunchbase)
- The number of AI companies and startups headquartered in each city was pulled from this site.
- Data was normalized on a per-capita basis (per 100,000 residents) to identify cities with higher concentrations of AI-focused organizations relative to their size.
Ranking and Weighting
Each city was scored across five factors, weighted to balance absolute opportunity (job postings, ecosystem size) with relative opportunity (salaries, cost of living, job flexibility), as follows:
- AI Jobs per 100,000 residents → 25%
- Cost of living adjusted annual salary → 25%
- AI companies and startups per capita → 25%
- Remote and hybrid role availability → 15%
- Search interest in AI jobs (per capita) → 10%
This study analyzed 43 of the most populated U.S. cities. To be included, cities needed at least 20 AI-related job postings that required a bachelor’s degree or higher. Those that fell below this threshold were excluded from the analysis.
About Youngstown State University
Youngstown State University offers online MBA programs designed for working professionals who want to advance their careers on their own schedule. Students can complete the 30-credit curriculum in as few as 12 months and choose from concentrations such as Healthcare Management, Marketing, Human Resources and Organizational Leadership, as well as the General MBA option. With multiple start dates and online coursework, YSU’s accelerated MBA degrees combine flexibility with practical, career-focused learning.
Fair Use Statement
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