{"h1":"Best cities for security jobs","faq":[{"a":"San Francisco has the most openings in this job family in the United States: 316 openings.","q":"Which city ranks first: best cities for security jobs?"},{"a":"20 cities have at least 50 openings, so the list has 20 entries.","q":"How many cities are ranked?"},{"a":"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.","q":"How is the ranking calculated?"},{"a":"Every month. This is the November 2026 edition. Older editions stay on this site at their own dated addresses.","q":"How often is it updated?"}],"lead":"San Francisco has the most openings in this job family in the United States: 316 openings.","minN":50,"rows":[{"n":316,"bar":1,"key":"CA|san francisco","sub":"CA","href":"/places/california/city/san-francisco","name":"San Francisco","rank":1,"stats":[{"label":"Share of the city's openings","value":"3%"},{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$250k"},{"label":"All openings in the city","value":"11,798"}],"value":316,"change":null,"employers":["OpenAI","Anthropic","University Of California San Francisco Foundation"],"valueLabel":"316 openings"},{"n":285,"bar":0.9018987341772152,"key":"NY|new york","sub":"NY","href":"/places/new-york/city/new-york","name":"New York","rank":2,"stats":[{"label":"Share of the city's openings","value":"1%"},{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$223k"},{"label":"All openings in the city","value":"20,589"}],"value":285,"change":null,"employers":["Amazon","Publicis Groupe","Morgan Stanley"],"valueLabel":"285 openings"},{"n":205,"bar":0.6487341772151899,"key":"DC|washington","sub":"DC","href":"/places/district-of-columbia/city/washington","name":"Washington","rank":3,"stats":[{"label":"Share of the city's openings","value":"5%"},{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$166k"},{"label":"All openings in the city","value":"4,457"}],"value":205,"change":null,"employers":["Anduril Industries","CACI International","Shield AI"],"valueLabel":"205 openings"},{"n":178,"bar":0.5632911392405063,"key":"WA|seattle","sub":"WA","href":"/places/washington/city/seattle","name":"Seattle","rank":4,"stats":[{"label":"Share of the city's openings","value":"3%"},{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$201k"},{"label":"All openings in the city","value":"5,343"}],"value":178,"change":null,"employers":["Amazon","Blue Origin","Shield AI"],"valueLabel":"178 openings"},{"n":118,"bar":0.3734177215189873,"key":"TX|austin","sub":"TX","href":"/places/texas/city/austin","name":"Austin","rank":5,"stats":[{"label":"Share of the city's openings","value":"2%"},{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$185k"},{"label":"All openings in the city","value":"5,903"}],"value":118,"change":null,"employers":["Amazon","Advanced Micro Devices","Cloudflare"],"valueLabel":"118 openings"},{"n":114,"bar":0.3607594936708861,"key":"IL|chicago","sub":"IL","href":"/places/illinois/city/chicago","name":"Chicago","rank":6,"stats":[{"label":"Share of the city's openings","value":"1%"},{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$140k"},{"label":"All openings in the city","value":"7,607"}],"value":114,"change":null,"employers":["Publicis Groupe","Northern Trust","Confidential"],"valueLabel":"114 openings"},{"n":111,"bar":0.3512658227848101,"key":"GA|atlanta","sub":"GA","href":"/places/georgia/city/atlanta","name":"Atlanta","rank":7,"stats":[{"label":"Share of the city's openings","value":"2%"},{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$153k"},{"label":"All openings in the city","value":"5,566"}],"value":111,"change":null,"employers":["Emory University","Oxford College of Emory University","Capgemini Invent"],"valueLabel":"111 openings"},{"n":108,"bar":0.3417721518987342,"key":"VA|arlington","sub":"VA","href":"/places/virginia/city/arlington","name":"Arlington","rank":8,"stats":[{"label":"Share of the city's openings","value":"5%"},{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$140k"},{"label":"All openings in the city","value":"1,989"}],"value":108,"change":null,"employers":["Amazon","AWS","Bloomberg Industry Group"],"valueLabel":"108 openings"},{"n":84,"bar":0.2658227848101266,"key":"VA|herndon","sub":"VA","href":"/places/virginia/city/herndon","name":"Herndon","rank":9,"stats":[{"label":"Share of the city's openings","value":"10%"},{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$179k"},{"label":"All openings in the city","value":"821"}],"value":84,"change":null,"employers":["Amazon","AWS","Peraton"],"valueLabel":"84 openings"},{"n":80,"bar":0.2531645569620253,"key":"NC|charlotte","sub":"NC","href":"/places/north-carolina/city/charlotte","name":"Charlotte","rank":10,"stats":[{"label":"Share of the city's openings","value":"3%"},{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$171k"},{"label":"All openings in the city","value":"3,198"}],"value":80,"change":null,"employers":["Truist Financial","Scout Motors","SMBC Americas"],"valueLabel":"80 openings"},{"n":76,"bar":0.2405063291139241,"key":"VA|mclean","sub":"VA","href":"/places/virginia/city/mclean","name":"McLean","rank":11,"stats":[{"label":"Share of the city's openings","value":"7%"},{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"Not enough pay data"},{"label":"All openings in the city","value":"1,155"}],"value":76,"change":null,"employers":["Capital One","The MITRE","Steampunk"],"valueLabel":"76 openings"},{"n":65,"bar":0.2056962025316456,"key":"MA|boston","sub":"MA","href":"/places/massachusetts/city/boston","name":"Boston","rank":12,"stats":[{"label":"Share of the city's openings","value":"1%"},{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$180k"},{"label":"All openings in the city","value":"5,143"}],"value":65,"change":null,"employers":["Vertex Pharmaceuticals","State Street","Confidential"],"valueLabel":"65 openings"},{"n":65,"bar":0.2056962025316456,"key":"CA|los angeles","sub":"CA","href":"/places/california/city/los-angeles","name":"Los Angeles","rank":13,"stats":[{"label":"Share of the city's openings","value":"1%"},{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$184k"},{"label":"All openings in the city","value":"5,126"}],"value":65,"change":null,"employers":["K2 Space","Cedars-sinai Medical Center","Apex Space"],"valueLabel":"65 openings"},{"n":62,"bar":0.1962025316455696,"key":"TX|dallas","sub":"TX","href":"/places/texas/city/dallas","name":"Dallas","rank":14,"stats":[{"label":"Share of the city's openings","value":"1%"},{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$187k"},{"label":"All openings in the city","value":"4,429"}],"value":62,"change":null,"employers":["Amazon","Shield AI","Texas Instruments"],"valueLabel":"62 openings"},{"n":59,"bar":0.1867088607594937,"key":"CO|denver","sub":"CO","href":"/places/colorado/city/denver","name":"Denver","rank":15,"stats":[{"label":"Share of the city's openings","value":"2%"},{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$177k"},{"label":"All openings in the city","value":"2,867"}],"value":59,"change":null,"employers":["True Anomaly","Blue Origin","Amazon"],"valueLabel":"59 openings"},{"n":57,"bar":0.180379746835443,"key":"OH|columbus","sub":"OH","href":"/places/ohio/city/columbus","name":"Columbus","rank":16,"stats":[{"label":"Share of the city's openings","value":"3%"},{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$121k"},{"label":"All openings in the city","value":"1,892"}],"value":57,"change":null,"employers":["State of Ohio","Nationwide","Ohio State University-Newark Campus"],"valueLabel":"57 openings"},{"n":53,"bar":0.1677215189873418,"key":"VA|chantilly","sub":"VA","href":"/places/virginia/city/chantilly","name":"Chantilly","rank":17,"stats":[{"label":"Share of the city's openings","value":"10%"},{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"Not enough pay data"},{"label":"All openings in the city","value":"555"}],"value":53,"change":null,"employers":["CACI International","Trinzic","Peraton"],"valueLabel":"53 openings"},{"n":51,"bar":0.1613924050632911,"key":"CO|colorado springs","sub":"CO","href":"/places/colorado/city/colorado-springs","name":"Colorado Springs","rank":18,"stats":[{"label":"Share of the city's openings","value":"7%"},{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"Not enough pay data"},{"label":"All openings in the city","value":"692"}],"value":51,"change":null,"employers":["Northrop Grumman","Trinzic","Odyssey Systems Consulting"],"valueLabel":"51 openings"},{"n":51,"bar":0.1613924050632911,"key":"CA|san jose","sub":"CA","href":"/places/california/city/san-jose","name":"San Jose","rank":19,"stats":[{"label":"Share of the city's openings","value":"2%"},{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$242k"},{"label":"All openings in the city","value":"2,379"}],"value":51,"change":null,"employers":["Super Micro Computer","Advanced Micro Devices","Cisco Systems"],"valueLabel":"51 openings"},{"n":51,"bar":0.1613924050632911,"key":"CA|sunnyvale","sub":"CA","href":"/places/california/city/sunnyvale","name":"Sunnyvale","rank":20,"stats":[{"label":"Share of the city's openings","value":"3%"},{"label":"Median posted pay","value":"$203k"},{"label":"All openings in the city","value":"1,556"}],"value":51,"change":null,"employers":["Applied Intuition","Wayve","Amazon"],"valueLabel":"51 openings"}],"slug":"best-cities-for-security-jobs","unit":"openings","scope":{"id":"us","kind":"national","name":"United States"},"title":"Best cities for security jobs","family":"Job families","method":["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."],"builtAt":"2026-11-03T03:37:22.058Z","edition":"2026-11","measure":"fnopen","sources":["NextChapter job data: open professional roles on employer career sites, verified in the last week"],"baseline":null,"keyFacts":["#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"],"placeNoun":"cities","commentary":["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."],"license":"Free to use and share with a link to https://launchyournextchapter.com/rankings/best-cities-for-security-jobs"}