East vs. West: Which coast is best for an IT career?

by Thomas Wailgum

September 20, 2007 —

Everyone knows that in these two regions geeks rule, most parents explain their child's career by saying say "my kid's into computers" and somebody's always stuck in traffic. But how do the locales stack up in a coast-to-coast showdown? From IT salaries and educational institutions, to climate and real estate, there's much to debate about which is the best spot for an IT career.

Top number of U.S. IT employees

WEST COAST -- Numbers 1 and 2 -- San Francisco and Los Angeles

EAST COAST -- Numbers 3 and 4 -- Washington, D.C., and Boston

EDGE : WEST COAST

Brain trusts

WEST COAST -- Cal Tech, Stanford

EAST COAST -- MIT, Carnegie Mellon

EDGE -- EAST COAST

Tech nickname

WEST COAST -- Silicon Valley -- Legendary

EAST COAST -- The Rte. 128 Corridor -- Lame

EDGE -- WEST COAST

Big kahunas

WEST COAST -- Cisco, Google, HP, Intel, Microsoft, Oracle, Sun

EAST COAST -- EMC, IBM

EDGE -- WEST COAST

Storied VCs

WEST COAST -- Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Greylock, Benchmark Capital

EAST COAST -- Battery Ventures, Atlas Ventures

EDGE -- WEST COAST

Culture club

WEST COAST -- Liberal, laid-back and status-conscious

EAST COAST -- Uptight, ultra-competitive and status-conscious

EDGE -- WEST COAST

Show me the money!

WEST COAST -- Senior Software Engineer / Developer / Programmer salary: $105,662 (San Francisco)

EAST COAST -- Senior Software Engineer / Developer / Programmer salary: $96,961 (Boston)

EDGE -- WEST COAST

Real estate reality

WEST COAST -- Saratoga, Calif. -- Median home price $1.4 million

EAST COAST -- Wellesley, Mass. -- Median home price $1.1 million

EDGE -- EAST COAST

Weather forecast

WEST COAST -- Constant sunshine and cool Pacific breezes year round

EAST COAST -- Hazy, hot and humid summers and Nor'easter blizzards in the winter

EDGE -- WEST COAST

Coffee snobbery factor

WEST COAST -- Will drive miles to find a Starbucks

EAST COAST -- Swears by Dunkin' Donuts, which is on every corner

EDGE -- EAST COAST

Signature commuting road

WEST COAST -- Highway 101 in San Francisco -- Nightmare!

EAST COAST -- Rte. 128 through Waltham, Mass. -- Only a bad dream!

EDGE -- EAST COAST

Preferred vehicle

WEST COAST -- Toyota Prius Hybrid

EAST COAST -- Volvo Cross Country

EDGE -- WEST COAST

Regional rep

WEST COAST -- Where "working-class millionaires" struggle to make ends meet

EAST COAST -- The "Least" Coast

EDGE -- EAST COAST

Chances of marrying a tech gazillionaire

WEST COAST -- High, especially if you hang around golf and yacht clubs

EAST COAST -- Low, unless you meet him or her while still a grad student

EDGE -- WEST COAST

Must-have tech exec clothing items

WEST COAST -- T-shirt, jeans, Teva sandals, leather jacket, messenger bag

EAST COAST -- Blue Oxford shirt, khaki pants, deck shoes, ski jacket, briefcase

EDGE -- WEST COAST

Hip-hop rivalries

WEST COAST -- Snoop Dogg, Suge Knight, Dr. Dre

EAST COAST -- Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs, Jay-Z, 50 Cent

EDGE -- Tie (Can't we all just get along!)

WINNER: WEST COAST!

SOURCES: CIO.com; Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco; Gaebler.com; Payscale.com; CNNMoney.com; Wikipedia.

CIO