NextChapter

Best all-round cities for AI careers in the West Coast

Mountain View is the best all-round city for AI careers in the West Coast, with a score of 96 / 100.November 2026 edition. Updated monthly, from open jobs we verified on employer career sites.

Key facts

  • #1 Mountain View, CA: 96 / 100
  • #2 San Francisco, CA: 95 / 100
  • #3 San Mateo, CA: 89 / 100
  • 39 cities ranked in the West Coast
  • Data as of November 2026
  1. 1Mountain View CA96 / 100
  2. 2San Francisco CA95 / 100
  3. 3San Mateo CA89 / 100
  4. 4Sunnyvale CA88 / 100
  5. 5Palo Alto CA87 / 100
  6. 6Santa Clara CA85 / 100
  7. 7San Jose CA80 / 100
  8. 8Bellevue WA79 / 100
  9. 9Foster City CA78 / 100
  10. 10Seattle WA76 / 100

What stands out

  • The top ten is tightly packed: Mountain View leads on 96 / 100, and #10 Seattle is at 76 / 100.
  • Foster City reaches #9 on a sample of 517 openings, a smaller market than most of the top ten, so its rank can move more from month to month.
  • San Francisco is the largest market in the top ten, with 12,335 openings behind its figure.
  • Cities with fewer than 100 openings are not ranked, and small differences between neighbouring ranks are not meaningful.

Why this ranking matters

What it shows

Careers that use AI cluster in a few places. This list weighs the share and number of openings that ask for AI skills and the pay they offer, to show where AI work is concentrated.

How to use it

If you are building AI skills, the top cities show where the employers and the roles are. The gap between your city and the top is a guide to what to add to your résumé.

The top 25

  1. 1

    Mountain View CA

    96 / 100

    AI-skill share of openings
    45%
    AI-skill openings
    736
    Median posted pay
    $213k

    Hiring most here: Intuit, Google, Waymo

    Based on 1,637 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Mountain View

  2. 2

    San Francisco CA

    95 / 100

    AI-skill share of openings
    41%
    AI-skill openings
    5,026
    Median posted pay
    $215k

    Hiring most here: OpenAI, Anthropic, University Of California San Francisco Foundation

    Based on 12,335 openings.

    Jobs and employers in San Francisco

  3. 3

    San Mateo CA

    89 / 100

    AI-skill share of openings
    34%
    AI-skill openings
    324
    Median posted pay
    $232k

    Hiring most here: Roblox, Verkada, Skydio

    Based on 960 openings.

    Jobs and employers in San Mateo

  4. 4

    Sunnyvale CA

    88 / 100

    AI-skill share of openings
    29%
    AI-skill openings
    475
    Median posted pay
    $212k

    Hiring most here: Applied Intuition, Amazon, Wayve

    Based on 1,655 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Sunnyvale

  5. 5

    Palo Alto CA

    87 / 100

    AI-skill share of openings
    37%
    AI-skill openings
    472
    Median posted pay
    $206k

    Hiring most here: SpaceX, Rivian Automotive, Stanford Health Care

    Based on 1,263 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Palo Alto

  6. 6

    Santa Clara CA

    85 / 100

    AI-skill share of openings
    28%
    AI-skill openings
    472
    Median posted pay
    $212k

    Hiring most here: Nvidia, Pure Storage, Advanced Micro Devices

    Based on 1,689 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Santa Clara

  7. 7

    San Jose CA

    80 / 100

    AI-skill share of openings
    22%
    AI-skill openings
    568
    Median posted pay
    $200k

    Hiring most here: Super Micro Computer, Advanced Micro Devices, Cisco Systems

    Based on 2,552 openings.

    Jobs and employers in San Jose

  8. 8

    Bellevue WA

    79 / 100

    AI-skill share of openings
    28%
    AI-skill openings
    403
    Median posted pay
    $197k

    Hiring most here: Amazon, TerraPower, Okta

    Based on 1,455 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Bellevue

  9. 9

    Foster City CA

    78 / 100

    AI-skill share of openings
    24%
    AI-skill openings
    126
    Median posted pay
    $232k

    Hiring most here: Gilead Sciences, Zoox, Replit

    Based on 517 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Foster City

  10. 10

    Seattle WA

    76 / 100

    AI-skill share of openings
    26%
    AI-skill openings
    1,448
    Median posted pay
    $180k

    Hiring most here: Amazon, Blue Origin, Shield AI

    Based on 5,635 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Seattle

  11. 11

    Menlo Park CA

    75 / 100

    AI-skill share of openings
    32%
    AI-skill openings
    144
    Median posted pay
    $195k

    Hiring most here: Snowflake, Hippocratic AI, Exponent

    Based on 449 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Menlo Park

  12. 12

    Redmond WA

    74 / 100

    AI-skill share of openings
    18%
    AI-skill openings
    213
    Median posted pay
    $209k

    Hiring most here: Amazon, SpaceX, Microsoft

    Based on 1,166 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Redmond

  13. 13

    Redwood City CA

    68 / 100

    AI-skill share of openings
    25%
    AI-skill openings
    131
    Median posted pay
    $193k

    Hiring most here: Corcept Therapeutics, SB Energy, C3 AI

    Based on 514 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Redwood City

  14. 14

    Oakland CA

    58 / 100

    AI-skill share of openings
    17%
    AI-skill openings
    101
    Median posted pay
    $181k

    Hiring most here: Pacific Gas & Electric, Blue Shield of California, Fivetran

    Based on 609 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Oakland

  15. 15

    San Carlos CA

    54 / 100

    AI-skill share of openings
    14%
    AI-skill openings
    30
    Median posted pay
    $195k

    Hiring most here: 1X Technologies, Joby Aviation, Natera

    Based on 211 openings.

    Jobs and employers in San Carlos

  16. 16

    Santa Monica CA

    54 / 100

    AI-skill share of openings
    20%
    AI-skill openings
    66
    Median posted pay
    $167k

    Hiring most here: Amazon, Snap, FIGS

    Based on 327 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Santa Monica

  17. 17

    Newark CA

    48 / 100

    AI-skill share of openings
    18%
    AI-skill openings
    25
    Median posted pay
    $172k

    Hiring most here: Lucid Motors, Applied Industrial Technologies, Stratus Technologies

    Based on 137 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Newark

  18. 18

    San Diego CA

    47 / 100

    AI-skill share of openings
    13%
    AI-skill openings
    409
    Median posted pay
    $155k

    Hiring most here: Qualcomm Inc/De, Qualcomm Technologies, General Atomics

    Based on 3,240 openings.

    Jobs and employers in San Diego

  19. 19

    Fremont CA

    46 / 100

    AI-skill share of openings
    12%
    AI-skill openings
    62
    Median posted pay
    $169k

    Hiring most here: LAM Research, Coherent, Agility Robotics

    Based on 510 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Fremont

  20. 20

    Milpitas CA

    44 / 100

    AI-skill share of openings
    13%
    AI-skill openings
    35
    Median posted pay
    $165k

    Hiring most here: Cisco Systems, Psiquantum, KLA

    Based on 271 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Milpitas

  21. 21

    Los Angeles CA

    43 / 100

    AI-skill share of openings
    10%
    AI-skill openings
    519
    Median posted pay
    $155k

    Hiring most here: K2 Space, Cedars-sinai Medical Center, Apex Space

    Based on 5,439 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Los Angeles

  22. 22

    Irvine CA

    41 / 100

    AI-skill share of openings
    11%
    AI-skill openings
    177
    Median posted pay
    $160k

    Hiring most here: Anduril Industries, Field AI, Rivian Automotive

    Based on 1,587 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Irvine

  23. 23

    Culver City CA

    41 / 100

    AI-skill share of openings
    21%
    AI-skill openings
    54
    Median posted pay
    $141k

    Hiring most here: Amazon, Scopely, Apple

    Based on 252 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Culver City

  24. 24

    Alameda CA

    38 / 100

    AI-skill share of openings
    9%
    AI-skill openings
    19
    Median posted pay
    $195k

    Hiring most here: Saildrone, Abbott, Penumbra

    Based on 215 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Alameda

  25. 25

    Emeryville CA

    37 / 100

    AI-skill share of openings
    11%
    AI-skill openings
    14
    Median posted pay
    $190k

    Hiring most here: Profluent, Tanium, Eko

    Based on 122 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Emeryville

Full ranking

All 39 cities that qualified, with the figure each is ranked on.

RankCityScoreSample
1Mountain View CA96 / 1001,637
2San Francisco CA95 / 10012,335
3San Mateo CA89 / 100960
4Sunnyvale CA88 / 1001,655
5Palo Alto CA87 / 1001,263
6Santa Clara CA85 / 1001,689
7San Jose CA80 / 1002,552
8Bellevue WA79 / 1001,455
9Foster City CA78 / 100517
10Seattle WA76 / 1005,635
11Menlo Park CA75 / 100449
12Redmond WA74 / 1001,166
13Redwood City CA68 / 100514
14Oakland CA58 / 100609
15San Carlos CA54 / 100211
16Santa Monica CA54 / 100327
17Newark CA48 / 100137
18San Diego CA47 / 1003,240
19Fremont CA46 / 100510
20Milpitas CA44 / 100271
21Los Angeles CA43 / 1005,439
22Irvine CA41 / 1001,587
23Culver City CA41 / 100252
24Alameda CA38 / 100215
25Emeryville CA37 / 100122
26Kirkland WA35 / 100167
27Pleasanton CA34 / 100189
28Santa Ana CA34 / 100277
29El Segundo CA33 / 100959
30Santa Barbara CA28 / 100154
31Everett WA27 / 100195
32Torrance CA26 / 100745
33Berkeley CA24 / 100249
34Long Beach CA24 / 100876
35Renton WA22 / 100134
36Sacramento CA15 / 1001,431
37Newport Beach CA14 / 100310
38Portland OR13 / 100837
39Corona CA0 / 100148

How this ranking works

A city's score is the weighted average of its percentile rank on each measure among the ranked cities (100 is first, 0 is last): ai-skill share of openings 35%, ai-skill openings 30%, median posted pay 20%, pay after cost of living 15%.

A score of 100 would mean first on every measure and 50 is the middle of the pack. The measures and weights are fixed in advance and shown here; they are a judgment about what matters to this reader, so use the single-measure rankings when one thing matters most.

Only cities with enough openings and pay data are ranked.

A city where one employer posts more than 50% of its openings is not ranked, so a single company cannot decide a city's score.

Sample bar: cities with fewer than 100 openings are not ranked.

Sources: NextChapter job data: open professional roles and posted pay; Bureau of Economic Analysis regional price parities 2024. Data as of November 2026.

Our job data covers professional roles on the career sites of employers we track, so figures describe that market, not every job. Spot an error? Tell us.

Questions

Which city ranks first: best all-round cities for ai careers in the west coast?
Mountain View is the best all-round city for AI careers in the West Coast, with a score of 96 / 100.
How many cities are ranked?
39 cities have at least 100 openings, so the list has 39 entries.
How is the ranking calculated?
A city's score is the weighted average of its percentile rank on each measure among the ranked cities (100 is first, 0 is last): ai-skill share of openings 35%, ai-skill openings 30%, median posted pay 20%, pay after cost of living 15%. A score of 100 would mean first on every measure and 50 is the middle of the pack. The measures and weights are fixed in advance and shown here; they are a judgment about what matters to this reader, so use the single-measure rankings when one thing matters most. Only cities with enough openings and pay data are ranked. A city where one employer posts more than 50% of its openings is not ranked, so a single company cannot decide a city's score.
How often is it updated?
Every month. This is the November 2026 edition. Older editions stay on this site at their own dated addresses.

More rankings

Cite this ranking

NextChapter, “Best all-round cities for AI careers in the West Coast,” November 2026 edition. https://launchyournextchapter.com/rankings/best-all-round-cities-for-ai-careers-in-the-west-coast

Link to it: <a href="https://launchyournextchapter.com/rankings/best-all-round-cities-for-ai-careers-in-the-west-coast">Best all-round cities for AI careers in the West Coast (NextChapter, November 2026)</a>

Download the data: CSV · JSON. Free to use with a link back.

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