Tech Talk

Austin's a hotbed for this popular tech job, says new study

Web developers have it made in Austin.

A new study shows just how good some tech professionals have it in Texas: Sparefoot's roundup of the 10 best cities for web developers ranks Dallas No. 7 and Austin No. 8.

The Austin-based startup teamed up with Indeed to determine the top 10 hubs for web developers based on job availability. Sparefoot then ranked the cities based on number of job openings, average salary, median home price, and median annual rent.

The average annual salary for a local web developer is $73,000, the lowest of the bunch. But what Austin lacks in salary, it makes up for with relatively affordable living. With a median home price of $270,000 and median annual rent of $17,064, Austin ranks fourth for both salary as percentage of home price (27 percent) and rent as percentage of income (23 percent).

"The Texas capital might have the lowest average starting salary for web developers on our list, but you can live pretty comfortably here — if you can stand the heat and the cedar pollen," Sparefoot says.

As for Dallas, Sparefoot puts it simply: "the pay is better and the housing is more affordable a few hours to the north."

The average annual salary for a web developer in Dallas is $78,000, No. 8 among the hubs studied. Dallas offers a more affordable median home price of $235,626 and median annual rent of $15,504 and ranks No. 3 for salary as percentage of home price (33 percent) and No. 2 for rent as percentage of income (20 percent).

The leading city for this high-tech career is Atlanta; New York and Chicago are tied at No. 2.

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Self-driving Roller Coaster

More self-driving cars expected to roll out in Austin for 2025

Photo courtesy of Waymo via KVUE

Various brands offering self-driving cars are on-and-off in Austin.

Expect to see more self-driving rideshare vehicles, also known as robotaxis, on Austin roads next year.

Robotaxi company Waymo, which you may have already seen on Austin's roads, is partnering with Uber. At some point next year, customers will be able to use the Uber app to call a self-driving ride.

Austin-based company Avride is in the testing phase and plans to roll out its robotaxis next year.

Currently, Volkswagen ADMT and Amazon's Zoox are in the testing phase in Austin, while Hyundai's Motional is in the mapping phase.

Last year, robotaxi company Cruise paused operations in Austin after the California Department of Motor Vehicles revoked the company's permits to operate driverless vehicles in the state. And last week, General Motors said it would no longer fund the company because of the time and resources needed.

This way of getting around has come with its safety concerns and issues. The city is tracking those concerns. According to the Transportation Department, the problems span from blocking the roads and parking in front of people's homes for weeks with lights beaming through their windows, to actual wrecks.

Since July 2023, robotaxis have been involved in 75 incidents. Only 21 of those incidents happened in 2024. It's important to note that Cruise has not been operating in Austin this year.

Since July 2023, driverless rideshare vehicles have been involved in 22 near collisions, eight collisions and seven instances where driverless taxis ignored directions from the Austin Police Department (APD).

According to the data, at least four of those Austin police incidents happened in recent months. The issues varied from driving through police checkpoints, to malfunctioning and getting stuck at an APD road closure near pedestrians, causing safety concerns.

A Waymo spokesperson said their vehicles have gesture recognition capabilities, which they've been training APD officers on using.

As the report shows, sometimes it does not work and Waymo said it is working to improve that. The spokesperson said that as of just last week, Waymo's First Responder Program has been independently verified by TÜV SÜD, making Waymo the first autonomous vehicle (AV) company to receive third-party validation for our emergency response protocols. They also said the data to date indicates the Waymo Driver is already reducing traffic injuries and fatalities in the places where the company currently operates.

Read the full story and watch the video at KVUE.com.

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