Seattle Shines in Both Job and Pay Growth Over the Past Year

Seattle posted the second-highest pay growth and the third highest job growth year over year as of May among 10 of the nations largest metro areas, according a job-market report released by job and recruiting platform Glassdoor.

Seattle as of May had a total of 111,591 open jobs, up 3.4% from a year earlier, ranking behind No. 1 Atlanta (123,708 open jobs, up 7.3%); and Boston (146,795 open jobs, up 4.2%). Philadelphia tied Seattle in the measure, also posting a 3.4% bump in open jobs year over year followed by Chicago, up 1%. The following metro areas saw decreases in the number of open jobs since May 2018, however: Washington, D.C., -1.9%; San Francisco, -2.3%; New York City, -2.8%; Los Angeles, -2.8%; and Houston, -2.9%.

Ranking ahead of No. 2 Seattle in a measure of the fastest growth in median pay over the year ending this past May was San Francisco, up 2.8% at $72,465, compared with Seattles mark of $63,247 (up 2.4%) over the period. Los Angeles, Atlanta and Boston rounded out the top five, with pay in those metros up between 1.9% and 2%.

The Glassdoor job-market report is based on an analysis of millions of online jobs and salaries posted on Glassdoor. In Seattle, the industry segments with the most job openings include health care and hospitals, 16,950 and internet/technology, 12,467. The best-paying industry segments in the Seattle area, based on median pay, according to the Glassdoor report, are energy and utilities, $67,725; biotech and pharmaceuticals, $66,027; and aerospace and defense, $65,901.

For the U.S. overall, according to Glassdoor, the number of open jobs stood at 5.76 million as of May, up 1.2% year over year, while U.S. median pay as of the same month was $53,273, up 2% year over year.