The Silicon Valley Wage Premium

Software application developers earn large salaries in the United States, $96,260 a year on average. But in metropolitan San Jose they earn $131,270, the highest in the country.

There are many partial explanations for this -- local cost of living, differences in education levels, experience, and industry -- but none of them quite account for it.

So what distinguishes San Jose software developers? It turns out that developers living in San Jose have acquired the specific skills most valued by employers.