NextChapter

Best cities for security jobs

San Francisco has the most openings in this job family in the United States: 316 openings.November 2026 edition. Updated monthly, from open jobs we verified on employer career sites.

Key facts

  • #1 San Francisco, CA: 316 openings
  • #2 New York, NY: 285 openings
  • #3 Washington, DC: 205 openings
  • 20 cities ranked in the United States
  • Data as of November 2026
  1. 1San Francisco CA316 openings
  2. 2New York NY285 openings
  3. 3Washington DC205 openings
  4. 4Seattle WA178 openings
  5. 5Austin TX118 openings
  6. 6Chicago IL114 openings
  7. 7Atlanta GA111 openings
  8. 8Arlington VA108 openings
  9. 9Herndon VA84 openings
  10. 10Charlotte NC80 openings

What stands out

  • The lead is wide: San Francisco (316 openings) is well clear of Charlotte at #10 (80 openings).
  • San Francisco is the largest market in the top ten, with 316 openings behind its figure.
  • Cities with fewer than 50 openings are not ranked, and small differences between neighbouring ranks are not meaningful.

Why this ranking matters

What it shows

The cities with the most openings in one job family show where that kind of work is concentrated. It counts the open professional roles on employer career sites that we verified in the last week.

How to use it

Pick your job family, look at the top cities and their employers, then open the family page for titles and pay.

The top 25

  1. 1

    San Francisco CA

    316 openings

    Share of the city's openings
    3%
    Median posted pay
    $250k
    All openings in the city
    11,798

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

    Based on 316 openings.

    Jobs and employers in San Francisco

  2. 2

    New York NY

    285 openings

    Share of the city's openings
    1%
    Median posted pay
    $223k
    All openings in the city
    20,589

    Hiring most here: Amazon, Publicis Groupe, Morgan Stanley

    Based on 285 openings.

    Jobs and employers in New York

  3. 3

    Washington DC

    205 openings

    Share of the city's openings
    5%
    Median posted pay
    $166k
    All openings in the city
    4,457

    Hiring most here: Anduril Industries, CACI International, Shield AI

    Based on 205 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Washington

  4. 4

    Seattle WA

    178 openings

    Share of the city's openings
    3%
    Median posted pay
    $201k
    All openings in the city
    5,343

    Hiring most here: Amazon, Blue Origin, Shield AI

    Based on 178 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Seattle

  5. 5

    Austin TX

    118 openings

    Share of the city's openings
    2%
    Median posted pay
    $185k
    All openings in the city
    5,903

    Hiring most here: Amazon, Advanced Micro Devices, Cloudflare

    Based on 118 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Austin

  6. 6

    Chicago IL

    114 openings

    Share of the city's openings
    1%
    Median posted pay
    $140k
    All openings in the city
    7,607

    Hiring most here: Publicis Groupe, Northern Trust, Confidential

    Based on 114 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Chicago

  7. 7

    Atlanta GA

    111 openings

    Share of the city's openings
    2%
    Median posted pay
    $153k
    All openings in the city
    5,566

    Hiring most here: Emory University, Oxford College of Emory University, Capgemini Invent

    Based on 111 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Atlanta

  8. 8

    Arlington VA

    108 openings

    Share of the city's openings
    5%
    Median posted pay
    $140k
    All openings in the city
    1,989

    Hiring most here: Amazon, AWS, Bloomberg Industry Group

    Based on 108 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Arlington

  9. 9

    Herndon VA

    84 openings

    Share of the city's openings
    10%
    Median posted pay
    $179k
    All openings in the city
    821

    Hiring most here: Amazon, AWS, Peraton

    Based on 84 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Herndon

  10. 10

    Charlotte NC

    80 openings

    Share of the city's openings
    3%
    Median posted pay
    $171k
    All openings in the city
    3,198

    Hiring most here: Truist Financial, Scout Motors, SMBC Americas

    Based on 80 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Charlotte

  11. 11

    McLean VA

    76 openings

    Share of the city's openings
    7%
    Median posted pay
    Not enough pay data
    All openings in the city
    1,155

    Hiring most here: Capital One, The MITRE, Steampunk

    Based on 76 openings.

    Jobs and employers in McLean

  12. 12

    Boston MA

    65 openings

    Share of the city's openings
    1%
    Median posted pay
    $180k
    All openings in the city
    5,143

    Hiring most here: Vertex Pharmaceuticals, State Street, Confidential

    Based on 65 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Boston

  13. 13

    Los Angeles CA

    65 openings

    Share of the city's openings
    1%
    Median posted pay
    $184k
    All openings in the city
    5,126

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

    Based on 65 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Los Angeles

  14. 14

    Dallas TX

    62 openings

    Share of the city's openings
    1%
    Median posted pay
    $187k
    All openings in the city
    4,429

    Hiring most here: Amazon, Shield AI, Texas Instruments

    Based on 62 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Dallas

  15. 15

    Denver CO

    59 openings

    Share of the city's openings
    2%
    Median posted pay
    $177k
    All openings in the city
    2,867

    Hiring most here: True Anomaly, Blue Origin, Amazon

    Based on 59 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Denver

  16. 16

    Columbus OH

    57 openings

    Share of the city's openings
    3%
    Median posted pay
    $121k
    All openings in the city
    1,892

    Hiring most here: State of Ohio, Nationwide, Ohio State University-Newark Campus

    Based on 57 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Columbus

  17. 17

    Chantilly VA

    53 openings

    Share of the city's openings
    10%
    Median posted pay
    Not enough pay data
    All openings in the city
    555

    Hiring most here: CACI International, Trinzic, Peraton

    Based on 53 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Chantilly

  18. 18

    Colorado Springs CO

    51 openings

    Share of the city's openings
    7%
    Median posted pay
    Not enough pay data
    All openings in the city
    692

    Hiring most here: Northrop Grumman, Trinzic, Odyssey Systems Consulting

    Based on 51 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Colorado Springs

  19. 19

    San Jose CA

    51 openings

    Share of the city's openings
    2%
    Median posted pay
    $242k
    All openings in the city
    2,379

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

    Based on 51 openings.

    Jobs and employers in San Jose

  20. 20

    Sunnyvale CA

    51 openings

    Share of the city's openings
    3%
    Median posted pay
    $203k
    All openings in the city
    1,556

    Hiring most here: Applied Intuition, Wayve, Amazon

    Based on 51 openings.

    Jobs and employers in Sunnyvale

Full ranking

All 20 cities that qualified, with the figure each is ranked on.

RankCityScoreSample
1San Francisco CA316 openings316
2New York NY285 openings285
3Washington DC205 openings205
4Seattle WA178 openings178
5Austin TX118 openings118
6Chicago IL114 openings114
7Atlanta GA111 openings111
8Arlington VA108 openings108
9Herndon VA84 openings84
10Charlotte NC80 openings80
11McLean VA76 openings76
12Boston MA65 openings65
13Los Angeles CA65 openings65
14Dallas TX62 openings62
15Denver CO59 openings59
16Columbus OH57 openings57
17Chantilly VA53 openings53
18Colorado Springs CO51 openings51
19San Jose CA51 openings51
20Sunnyvale CA51 openings51

The jobs behind this ranking

Open security jobs, who is hiring for them and what they pay.

Job titles link to their salary page where pay is posted, otherwise to the open jobs.

How this ranking works

A city is ranked on the number of its open professional roles in this job family, as classed from the posting title and text. Median pay uses only listings that post a salary, shown where at least 8 do.

Only roles verified on the employer's own career site in the last week are counted.

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 50 openings are not ranked.

Sources: NextChapter job data: open professional roles on employer career sites, verified in the last week. 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 cities for security jobs?
San Francisco has the most openings in this job family in the United States: 316 openings.
How many cities are ranked?
20 cities have at least 50 openings, so the list has 20 entries.
How is the ranking calculated?
A city is ranked on the number of its open professional roles in this job family, as classed from the posting title and text. Median pay uses only listings that post a salary, shown where at least 8 do. Only roles verified on the employer's own career site in the last week are counted. 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 cities for security jobs,” November 2026 edition. https://launchyournextchapter.com/rankings/best-cities-for-security-jobs

Link to it: <a href="https://launchyournextchapter.com/rankings/best-cities-for-security-jobs">Best cities for security jobs (NextChapter, November 2026)</a>

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

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