SAN JOSE-SUNNYVALE-SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA
If you can think of a big tech company, chances are that it’s headquartered, or at least has a major office, in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro area, one of two Silicon Valley areas in the top 10. Google. Apple. Intel. Netflix. They all have corporate offices in the region, and more startups are popping up all the time. With thousands of tech workers flocking there every year, it ranks first for technology-related employees per 1,000 jobs (134 per 1,000) and median annual salary ($121,064). It also is the least affordable metro area in our analysis, with median gross rent of $2,044.HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA
Home to NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, which designs, builds and tests vehicles and systems for piloted space flight, it’s no surprise that workers in tech fields flock to Huntsville. The region ranks seventh with just over 63 tech-related employees per 1,000 jobs. However, what vaults it even higher in our analysis is its affordability. Huntsville has by far the lowest median gross rent in the top 10 metros at $785 a month. That’s No. 233 in our analysis of 381 places.SEATTLE-TACOMA-BELLEVUE, WASHINGTON
The Seattle metro area is headquarters to big tech employers such as Amazon and Microsoft, and though the Boeing Co.’s corporate offices are no longer there, it’s still home to many of the company’s operations. The region ranks third in our analysis for tech employees per 1,000 jobs, and fifth for median annual tech salary, $103,320. Meanwhile, living here is on the pricier side at $1,325 a month in median gross rent.CALIFORNIA-LEXINGTON PARK, MARYLAND
Tucked away on the wooded shores of the Chesapeake Bay, about 60 miles from Washington, D.C., the California-Lexington Park area might seem a strange destination for tech workers. The draw: the Patuxent River Naval Air Station, which hosts, among other facilities, a research and development division for military aircraft. The area ranks second in our analysis for job opportunities, with 83 tech employees per 1,000 jobs.DURHAM-CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA
Perhaps as well known for its college basketball powerhouses as its status as a tech hub, the Durham-Chapel Hill area is the second most affordable metro in our top 10, though it still ranks in the top third of the highest median gross rents in our analysis at $947. In addition to being home to two universities, Durham-Chapel Hill also hosts locations of employers like IBM and Cisco.RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA
The third corner of the Triangle, as the region is known, the Raleigh area also has its share of large employers, including the analytics firm SAS, in Cary, and computer-maker Lenovo in Morrisville. Like Durham-Chapel Hill, it’s affordable relative to the rest of the top 10 at $1,026 a month for median gross rent. Meanwhile, it ranks eighth in our analysis with nearly 63 tech employees per 1,000 jobs.