If you’re looking to pursue a career in SEO it’s obviously important for you to a) get paid well, b) get the best SEO experience possible on the projects you are working on and c) get the opportunity to work around other highly skilled professionals so that you have some people to learn from. The following 6 cities are the best fit for this type of career:
1. New York City
The average salary for an SEO professional in New York City is 54k to 98k per year. An average much higher than the rest of the country. The only problem is of course the cost of living in New York City which makes it difficult to save those extra pennies. Why so many good high paying SEO jobs in New York? It’s simple… all the traditional major ad agencies reside in New York. Most of them anyway.
2. Los Angeles
The average salary for an SEO professional in Los Angeles is 45k to 81k per year. Los Angeles too has many of the top traditional ad agencies but what’s unique about Los Angeles is it’s high density of newer age creative ad agencies, particularly those that specialize in online marketing. So while you may get paid more in New York City for being an SEO pro, you’ll have a much easier time finding a gig in Los Angeles.
3. San Francisco
The average salary for an SEO professional in San Francisco is 53k to 90k per year. What’s cool about San Francisco and what makes it unique to the other cities mentioned here is the high number of startup companies.
4. Chicago
Chicago like New York City, is the home of many traditional ad agencies and media outlets which creates a large market for SEO professionals. The average salary for an SEO professional in Chicago is 45k to 82k per year.
5. Boston
Boston is surprisingly the home of many domain name organizations and affiliate ad networks. These two monster industries create a ton of residual SEO jobs throughout the city. The average salary for an SEO professional in Boston is 49k to 90k per year.
6. Baltimore
And last on this list is Baltimore, Maryland. The average salary for an SEO Professional in Baltimore is 43k to 78k per year. The majority of these jobs are “Political” in nature thanks to nearby Washington D.C.
Don’t like the big city life? Don’t love the idea of doing search engine optimization New York, or in other big cities like Chicago or Boston? Austin Texas and Tampa Florida are two cities that rank pretty high on the list, two cities that still pay well and aren’t your typical “big city.” Those living in Florida for example can register a Florida LLC, same with other localities based on existing regulations.
For a full list of the top cities for SEO professionals check out this SEO Salary Guide Infographic on Visual.ly. http://visual.ly/seo-salaries-and-best-cities-seo-jobs
This article was contributed by Nicole. She has been blogging about search engine optimization for years.
