Austin and six more Texas cities are soaring among the best places in the U.S. for women in tech, a new report says.
The Texas capital city ranked No. 6 nationwide in SmartAsset's new report, "Best and Worst Cities for Women in Tech — 2026 Study," which compared the 50 biggest U.S. cities across four metrics:
- Gender pay gap — women's median earnings as a percentage of men’s median earnings in tech
- The share of all tech workers that are women
- The overall concentration of employment for tech workers, defined as "tech workers as a share of the local workforce"
- Women tech workers’ median earnings, adjusted for regional price parity
For the purpose of the study, tech workers are defined as "city residents employed in computer and mathematical occupations."
The study's findings show that more than 12,000 tech workers in Austin are women, or nearly 23 percent of the total tech workforce in the city. Surprisingly, tech workers in general make up less than 9 percent of the total Austin workforce.
However, women tech workers in Austin have a sizeable gap to cross to receive equal pay compared to their male counterparts in the same industry. Women tech workers make about $99,500 in median earnings after adjusting for regional price parity, which is only 80 percent of what male tech workers make, SmartAsset found.
There are only two U.S. cities where women in tech earn more than what their male counterparts: Miami and Memphis, Tennessee. Women tech workers in Miami make an adjusted $88,650 in median earnings, or 101.7 percent of what men in tech make. In Memphis, women make $84,718 in adjusted earnings, or 101.5 percent of what men in tech earn.
The findings also assert that women remain underrepresented in the nation's overall tech sector, despite making up nearly half of the total workforce. Only 22.6 percent of the U.S.'s tech labor force is made up of women, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
"Opportunities for women in tech can vary considerably by location, and these differences shape access to jobs, career advancement and earning potential," the report's author wrote. "In some places, women account for a larger share of tech workers, face narrower pay gaps and enjoy a stronger local labor market. In others, they may encounter a more challenging career environment."
The six other Texas cities that earned spots in the report are Houston (No. 15), Fort Worth (No. 26), Dallas (No. 32), Arlington (No. 38), San Antonio (No. 42), and El Paso (No. 49).
The top 10 best U.S. cities for women in tech are:
- No. 1 – San Jose, California
- No. 2 – Seattle, Washington
- No. 3 – San Francisco, California
- No. 4 – Atlanta, Georgia
- No. 5 – Baltimore, Maryland
- No. 6 – Austin, Texas
- No. 7 – Oakland, California
- No. 8 – Portland, Oregon
- No. 9 – Boston, Massachusetts
- No. 10 – Minneapolis, Minnesota
