10 Best Cities for Technology Jobs & Entrepreneurship

Your geographic location can affect your personal and business finances in a number of ways.

For one, your geographic location plays a role in career options. It can affect the type of jobs that are available to you (if you're an employee), or the type of talent you can hire (if you're an employer). Your geographic location can also affect your maximum salary, the cost of home ownership (can you comfortably afford to buy a home in your area?), and the amount of annual taxes you'll pay. To a smaller extent, your geographic location can affect your professional circle (local mentors, colleagues, competition).

Sometimes it pays to relocate to an area that meets your needs and allows you to lead a higher-quality of life. Of course, "a higher quality of life" is defined differently for different people. For some, a higher-quality life, means a smaller, more affordable city where they can raise children. For others, a higher-quality life means living in a large metro area with a lot of different career options.

If you work in technology, Wired Magazine has just published a list of the top 10 technology cities. These 10 cities were chosen for their technology talent, geeky culture, and tech amenities.

Top Technology Cities

According to Wired Magazine, the following 10 cities are tops for technology:

• Seattle
• San Francisco Bay Area
• Los Angeles
• Austin
• Orlando
• Raleigh-Durham
• Pittsburgh
• New York City
• Boston
• Washington, D.C.

It would be nice to see a list of smaller cities that are technology hotspots. Most of the cities on Wired's list are large metro areas (i.e. NYC, LA, SF, DC), with the exception of Pittsburgh, Austin, and Raleigh-Durham.

Seattle, San Francisco, and New York are well-known as technology hotspots. However, cities such as Orlando, Pittsburgh, Austin, and Raleigh-Durham are less well-known.

Austin and Seattle are good choices for technology startups, since both Washington and Texas have no state income tax. Zero state income tax (at the personal level) can help new business owners keep more of their hard-earned money, and make the transition to entrepreneurship less rocky. Texas also has a number of tax benefits at the business level. My vote would be for Austin, assuming you can handle the hot weather.