⚠️ This video is for tech professionals already working in the U.S., or Canadians relocating south.
We're breaking down where experienced U.S.-based tech talent is resettling in 2025, based on:
🏙️ Cost of living vs. salary tradeoffs
📈 Growth in local tech ecosystems
💼 Real opportunities for mid/senior-level roles
📉 And cities where the hype has officially died
#TechButMakeItReal
#TechAnalysis
#AIEconomy
#FutureOfTech
#TechTrends
#AITrends
#TechInsights
#StartupWorld
#TechExplained
#InnovationTalk
#DigitalEconomy
#TechCommunity
We're breaking down where experienced U.S.-based tech talent is resettling in 2025, based on:
🏙️ Cost of living vs. salary tradeoffs
📈 Growth in local tech ecosystems
💼 Real opportunities for mid/senior-level roles
📉 And cities where the hype has officially died
#TechButMakeItReal
#TechAnalysis
#AIEconomy
#FutureOfTech
#TechTrends
#AITrends
#TechInsights
#StartupWorld
#TechExplained
#InnovationTalk
#DigitalEconomy
#TechCommunity
Category
🤖
TechTranscript
00:00This video series is for tech professionals already living and working in the US, Canada, the UK, or the European
00:07Union.
00:08If you're based outside these regions or in an outsourcing heavy market, the data in this video will not apply
00:15to your situation.
00:16I do not cover immigration, international job hunting, or topics like how to break into tech without a college degree.
00:23If that's what you're here for, this probably isn't the right channel, and that's okay.
00:27But if you are operating within these markets, keep watching.
00:31There's a lot ahead for various seniority levels and career tracks in tech.
00:35Tech cities today can be broken into three types.
00:38High salaries, insane hustle culture, and you live paycheck to paycheck.
00:42Mid salaries, okay-ish balance, but taxes crush any real ambition.
00:47Mid to low salaries, affordable living, but social life is non-existent.
00:52In a world where housing costs have spiraled out of control, inflation eats your raise before it hits your bank
00:59account.
00:59Where geopolitical tensions reshape borders, one question looms large.
01:04Where to run?
01:06I've spent the last year tracking emerging tech ecosystems and interviewing internationally just to feel that difference firsthand.
01:15So the question we should be asking ourselves is not just, is there a job for me, but where can
01:22I afford to have a life worth working for?
01:27Today I'm launching a new series of videos exploring tech hubs across the world.
01:32Not only the usual places like the Silicon Valley, although let's be honest, we have to talk about it,
01:37but also the rising hotspots where tech workers might actually feel a better quality of life, more freedom, and a
01:44chance to build something without burning out.
01:47In the next few videos, we'll dive deep into the Americas and Europe.
01:50We will break down what each region gets right, and together we will map out the sweetest spot for tech
01:56workers in 2025 and beyond.
01:59Hi, this is Daria, and this is Tech But Make It Real.
02:02Don't forget to subscribe to stay tuned.
02:07Today we're talking about the mecca of tech, the United States of America.
02:12Starting with San Francisco, California.
02:15Tech scene and culture.
02:17San Francisco and the famous Bay Area remain to be the global epicenter and the heart of the cutting-edge
02:23AI and startups.
02:24The tech scene and the overall vibe in the Bay Area don't compare to anything else.
02:30So, say what you will.
02:31That it's oversaturated, that it's way too late to go there, that it's unbelievably overpriced, or that it's lost its
02:38soul to money and business.
02:40And all of that may be true, but there is a reason why tech talent keeps flocking there.
02:45Many have tried to replicate the Silicon Valley, and all have fallen short.
02:50It goes without saying that it's home to massive tech giants, but what makes San Francisco so magnetic isn't just
02:56the companies, it's the people.
02:58Yes, the hustle culture is real, and it does burn you out.
03:02But it's also where the most ambitious, the most unreasonably driven people come to build.
03:09Stanford University plays a massive role in this cultural phenomenon.
03:12It's a breeding ground for that rare mix of courage, intelligence, and relentless perseverance.
03:19Quality of talent.
03:20The concentration of high-quality talent in the Bay Area is hard to match.
03:25And no, not every PM, not every engineer, not every founder is trying to build a new slack, but the
03:30speed at which people are able to operate.
03:32Their willingness to learn, their willingness to improve, and the level of ambition that an average employee demonstrates at the
03:40company is unlike any other tech hub on the planet.
03:43If you're motivated by people around you, if you want to spend time with folks who are smarter than you,
03:50that have access to resources that you'd never reach without help,
03:54this place will mold you to stay sharp, curious, and very fast.
03:58The vibes.
03:59If you're not from the Bay Area, you didn't go to Stanford, you don't physically live in the area, and
04:06have no network, showing up to Job Hunt can feel like walking into an old-school British private club.
04:12In my opinion, the best way to move there is with an offer in hand.
04:17Arrange for a job and then move.
04:19Going without a plan and hoping to figure it out is rarely a winning strategy.
04:24What you'll often see on LinkedIn is a pattern.
04:26People who started their careers in the Bay Area, they landed their first internship at Fang or Tier 1 company,
04:32and for the next decade, they just rotate between the top-tier logos.
04:36It is not uncommon to find a 25-year-old who has already done stints at Pinterest, Google, Twitch, Meta,
04:45or Discord.
04:46Are they really that good?
04:47Sometimes, yes, but often it has to do with your geographic location.
04:51Simply being in the Bay Area, going to school there, or even just living there defines your proximity to opportunity.
05:00It's the people you grab coffee with.
05:02It's the people you go on a hike with.
05:05It's the people you get beers with.
05:06So when I say the cream of the crop, I mean the right logos, the right resume, and most importantly,
05:13the right network.
05:13And if you don't have that, breaking in is very, very tough.
05:18Cost of living and salaries.
05:20It's a well-known fact, so I'm not going to go too deep into that, but the cost of living
05:25in the Bay Area and San Francisco is beyond anything rational.
05:29Rent will be your biggest expense, and you will be shocked at the conditions people are willing to pay absurd
05:35amount of money for.
05:36San Francisco, for all its beauty, the ocean, the views, can also be very sketchy.
05:41I was there just last fall with a group of people from Europe, and for many of them, it was
05:46a major cultural shock.
05:48It usually doesn't stop people from moving there, but if your environment and aesthetics of the place severely impact your
05:56mental health,
05:56be very careful about the place where you choose to live.
06:00Conclusion.
06:01At which stage of your career is San Francisco a good place to move to?
06:05Here's a little summary of what I think.
06:07So if you ever get an offer, and you sit down and do the math, and the conditions justify the
06:13move, do it.
06:14Having that location and having those logos on your resume will elevate your market value for years to come.
06:20Beyond that, you'll gain access to a pool of extraordinary talent and ambition.
06:26And let's be real, your career is often only as good as your network.
06:29There is a saying, you're not paying for the location, you're paying for the neighbors.
06:33And these neighbors are definitely worth paying for.
06:35Lastly, I have to mention the layoffs over the past three years.
06:39Silicon Valley and the rest of the U.S. have been hit hard.
06:42As of April 2025, the Bay Area is still full of people who were laid off after years of fame.
06:49So if you're job hunting there, know that you will be competing with the resumes that are the cream of
06:55the crop.
06:55Once again, the safest move is to land an offer and then pack your bags.
07:00New York, New York.
07:02Tech scene and culture.
07:04NYC is the largest tech hub on the East Coast of the United States, with a strong presence of tech
07:09giants and startups.
07:11It offers excellent career and education opportunities, making it a great place for networking and professional growth.
07:17So let's talk about what NYC isn't.
07:20It is not Silicon Valley 2.0.
07:22You won't find a founder on every corner, living with six roommates and grinding to get into the next YC
07:28batch.
07:28New York is more like, here's a billion dollar industry.
07:32Let's slap some AI on it.
07:34Monetize the crap out of it and ship it by next week.
07:36NYC is definitely becoming a bigger player in startups and venture capital with a growing early stage ecosystem and a
07:43strong tech talent base.
07:45But it's still dominated by the legacy giants.
07:48IBM, Thomson Reuters, Oracle, etc.
07:51It's less tech native and much more digital transformation.
07:55When it comes to AI, most of the innovation is happening inside innovation labs at those legacy firms.
08:02Internal AI roles and banks or tech forward roles buried inside massive enterprises.
08:08Sure, you can find some tech native midsize players, but most of the market sits at the ends of the
08:14spectrum, with legacy being the dominant force.
08:18It's less, let's change the world and a lot more, let's make this profitable and presentation ready by end of
08:24day.
08:25Quality of talent.
08:26NYC talent pool is far more diverse than what you would typically find on the West Coast.
08:31You'll meet people from all kinds of backgrounds, not just Stanford grads or people who started their career in the
08:37Bay Area.
08:38The city is much more open to people who don't have FANG logos on their resume, and that closed private
08:44club sort of situation that I talked about earlier, there is a lot less of that here.
08:48You'll find people from across the US, Canada, Asia, or Europe, all coming with vastly different backgrounds.
08:55Now, some tech bros will say that the quality of talent in New York does not stack up to the
08:59West Coast.
09:00I respectfully disagree.
09:02These are two entirely different ecosystems, and naturally, the skill sets vary.
09:07In fact, New York is one of the places where having an MBA might actually be a good career investment,
09:13because here you often find massive orgs and massive budgets.
09:19The vibes.
09:20New York has always been and will always be a dynamic, chaotic, deeply cultural place.
09:27It's a masterclass in branding, unapologetically American, very raw and industrial, jarringly full of contradictions.
09:35It's gritty, it's overwhelming, it's inspiring, and yes, often terribly smelling.
09:40But as a city, I love it.
09:42There is nothing else quite like it.
09:44With that said, if you're moving there, you need to be at peace with being a single drop in a
09:50very large ocean, unless you're coming in at a very senior level.
09:54It's cutthroat, and the intensity stems from one simple truth.
09:57There is always a line of people ready to take your spot.
10:01Cost of living and salaries.
10:02As a data scientist, a software engineer, or a product manager, you're looking at making between $160,000 to $180
10:09,000, probably $200,000 if you're in big tech.
10:12So, good salaries, but far from the Bay Area.
10:14On top of that, New York hits you with a combo move.
10:17Federal tax, state tax, and city tax.
10:21And then rent shows up like, hey, I'm $3,500 a month, and by the way, you're not getting an
10:25AC, a dishwasher, and you'll probably start looking for the New York laundromat.
10:29You're basically paying to live in the city.
10:31You're not broke, but you're also not balling.
10:34Conclusion.
10:35When is New York a good idea?
10:37If your goal is to make serious money while staying employed, it's going to be very financially difficult until you
10:45hit the upper levels.
10:46So, if your plan is to climb all the way to the top of the corporate ladder, yes, it's worth
10:52it.
10:52But you need to grow an extremely thick skin.
10:56If you have been offered a very senior role and the compensation makes sense, do it.
11:02No brainer.
11:03If you want connections, you crave the speed, and you want to be around that unfiltered American energy, and you
11:09want to be surrounded by people who live and breathe work, 100% you will get that here.
11:14When is it not worth it?
11:15If you're looking to work on cutting-edge AI, quantum, autonomous driving, deep tech, you're probably better off looking at
11:24the West Coast or some parts of Texas.
11:26NYC simply doesn't have the same density of AI rules in those domains.
11:30If you're not ultra senior and you're hoping to have a comfortable job and save more than 30% of
11:36your income, hell no, not happening.
11:38We didn't want to make this video too long, so we decided to split it in two parts.
11:42This is the end of part one.
11:44In part two, we will talk about the tech hubs that are less popular than NYC and San Francisco, but
11:50where life is much more affordable and the values are simply different.
11:55So stay tuned, and we'll see you shortly.
11:58Bye.
12:00Bye.
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