Here's how your pay may change if you relocate for work
With more than 2 in 5 Americans working from home as of June and companies like Zillow, Twitter, and Square announcing their employees could work remotely indefinitely, many workers are leaving high-cost cities like New York or San Fransisco to less expensive ones.
But the move often comes with a drawback — a pay cut.
“We predict a tidal wave of compensation adjustments in 2021 as many tech and professional services workers go remote and move away from company headquarters,” said Dr. Andrew Chamberlain, Glassdoor’s chief economist, in its annual workplace trends report.
Here’s how much of a pay cut you may see depending on your industry and where you have decided to move to.
Outbound city
Your starting point and the city you’re currently based in will have a big impact on how much of a pay cut you can expect.
Workers leaving San Jose, California, can expect the biggest drop in compensation of 24.6%. It’s followed by San Francisco (-21.7%), New York City (-9.8%), and Seattle (-9.7%), according to Glassdoor.
On the other hand, if you are moving away from Denver, Minneapolis, or Houston, your pay may change by less than 1%.
Inbound city
Where your new home will be also plays a big role in what change in pay you might see.
If you’re leaving the Big Apple, you can get minimal drops in pay if you move to Seattle (-0.1%), Los Angeles (-1.1%), Washington D.C. (-2.3%), or Boston (-2.9%), according to Glassdoor.
Coming from the Golden Gate city, the smallest pay cut you can get is if you relocate to Los Angeles (-13%), Seattle (-12%), or New York City (-11.9%).
Depending on your job
Tech workers are those who may see the biggest pay cuts if they decide to move away from New York or San Fransisco.
If leaving the Golden Gate city, software engineers, software developers, and product managers may expect a drop in compensation of -24.8%, -21.3%, and -23.1%, respectively.
When leaving the Big Apple, the pay cut will be smaller: -12.2%, -10.4%, and -9.6%, respectively.
A marketing manager leaving San Francisco or New York can expect a pay cut of 25.8% and 13%, respectively, while a sales representative will see a drop in compensation of 25.5% or 13%, respectively.
Denitsa is a reporter for Yahoo Finance and Cashay. Follow her on Twitter @denitsa_tsekova.
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