Best locations for API documentation jobs

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You’re taking this course most likely because you want to break into API documentation. However, if you live in a place where there aren’t many API documentation jobs, it will be difficult to find work. In this topic, I’ll explain where the API documentation jobs are.

I originally wrote this topic in 2018 and 2019, when I lived in Silicon Valley, using 2017 employment data and 2018 job searches. In October 2026, the employment tables were updated with May 2025 data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and a section on remote work was added. The 2018 job search analysis and the personal sections still reflect that earlier time.

• Where are the API jobs
• API keyword density by state (2018)
• Should you move to California?
• Alternatives to California
• Remote and hybrid work
• How to conduct a simple test
• Conclusion
• Activity: Look at API documentation jobs and requirements

Where are the API jobs

Where are the best locations for API documentation jobs? The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) publishes employment estimates for technical writers through its Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program. As of May 2025, the BLS estimated that about 45,500 technical writers were employed in the U.S., with a median annual wage of $90,390. The data doesn’t break down the numbers by API documentation, but it gives a starting point.

Here are the metropolitan areas with the most technical writers, based on May 2025 data. (BLS publishes estimates for hundreds of metro areas. This list covers the top 10 among 24 large, tech-heavy metro areas that were checked, so a metro area outside that set could be missing.)

“MSA” stands for “metropolitan statistical area.” Much of the employment data is reported by MSA rather than by state. Why look at MSAs rather than states as a whole? While California might rank high in technical writer employment, you would have a tough time finding employment in some remote areas, such as Lone Pine or Corning. Employment measurements are more accurate when they’re focused on a specific metropolitan area rather than the state as a whole.

Some data is easier to compare by state, though. The top 10 states for technical writer employment (May 2025 BLS data) are as follows:

The two lists overlap quite a bit. California, Texas, Massachusetts, Washington, Georgia, and New York appear through their metro areas, and Virginia and Maryland appear through the Washington, DC, and Baltimore metro areas. One exception is North Carolina, which ranks third among states but doesn’t have a metro area in the top 10. Its technical writers are spread across several metro areas, such as Raleigh (about 630), Charlotte (about 560), and Durham-Chapel Hill (about 390).

Compared with the 2017 data that this topic originally used, the biggest shift is in the Bay Area. In 2017, the San Jose metro area had about 1,560 technical writers and ranked third among all metro areas. By May 2025, it had about 920.

In 2018, I also tried to estimate where API-specific jobs were concentrated. To determine which states had the most density for API-specific documentation jobs, I searched Indeed.com for the term “API” and filtered by state (it wasn’t possible to filter by MSA). I performed one set of searches on August 12, 2018, and another on December 26, 2018. Then I averaged the two.

I didn’t meticulously examine each hit in the Indeed results for “API” to see if the hit actually related to documentation jobs with APIs, or even that it related to APIs (though I did spot check). I assume that the number of documentation jobs will be a relative percentage of the API-related jobs overall. For example, suppose a state has 1,000 hits for “API.” If we were to examine each job and filter the results down to “technical writer” jobs that mention APIs, we would probably see a relative percentage (e.g., 5 percent) of jobs related to technical writing. Error rates will probably be the same overall as well.

Admittedly, I’m by no means versed in statistics, and I admit that this method has many flaws for our overall question (where are the best locations for API documentation jobs?). For example, a high number of jobs doesn’t necessarily mean more jobs will be available if there are just more technical writers competing for those jobs.

To illustrate some of these issues, suppose the state is small and has only about 500 technical writers in the area, but the technical writer growth rate in the area is high as well as the number of “API” hits on Indeed. Is that a better area in which to find a job? Maybe. It depends on how many writers are competing for the jobs — that information would be even harder to gather.

On the other hand, living in a larger tech hub with more variation in the job opportunities and required technical skills might provide more selection and fit for your particular skills. API doc hiring managers usually want candidates familiar with the languages they’re targeting, so with more jobs available, you might have a better shot at matching up with one of the roles.

Additionally, just because states have a high employment rate of technical writers doesn’t mean it’s the best location to find a job. Job growth rates might be a better factor to consider, as it means more new jobs will be available in the area. (In 2018, the STC Salary Database listed high-growth areas in a “Fastest-Growing States for Technical Writers and Export and GDP Performance in 2017” table.)

Alternatively, we could have examined the top areas based on industry sectors. The Computer Systems Design and Related Services Industries employs the most technical writers, but if you’re focused on another industry, such as medical, different locations might be more optimal for these other industry sectors. California has a high density of computer-focused companies, while New Jersey has more pharmaceutical companies.

Thus, it’s hard to say for sure where the best locations are for API doc jobs, especially as they fit your unique profile. At most, in this topic I indicate where some promising areas appear to be, based on the technical writer employment in the area and the prevalence of “API” as a keyword in job postings in the area.

API keyword density by state (2018)

Here’s the data from my 2018 search for the keyword “API” in job searches on Indeed.com, contextualized with the technical writer employment for the state (from the 2017 STC Salary Database). I sorted by most API hits (because API frequency is what we’re optimizing for). In measuring hits, I took the average of two searches for “API” spread out over about six months. Also, I divided the API hits by the employment to give a percentage hinting at the density of API documentation jobs.

If “API” is a more common term for the area, I assume more technical writer jobs will involve working with APIs in those areas. Based on this assumption, California, Texas, Virginia, Massachusetts, New York, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, and Pennsylvania are promising areas for API documentation jobs for technical writers.

This superficial query doesn’t indicate whether there are more tech comm jobs overall for these states. For example, Michigan might have a lot more general tech writing jobs than API doc jobs, even though it ranks far down in the above table.

To get more granular with details, such as job losses or gains, the hottest MSAs for each state, the best industry sectors, the highest salaries, etc., consult the BLS OEWS data and mine the data you want.

I want to note some issues. In my initial searches for District of Columbia, I failed to specify “exact location” and as a result, the original hits (which allow a 25-mile radius by default) included many surrounding states such as Virginia, Maryland, and others. I revised the search in January 2019.

Also, I’m not sure why Washington State, Louisiana, and Delaware are getting so many hits for APIs. I think “API” might have another meaning in some of these states (e.g., “API CNC Machinist,” “Familiar with OSHA, API, NFPA and other regulations and standards,” “Basic knowledge of API RP 53 and 30 CFR Part 250,” etc.). Like I said, I didn’t sort through hundreds of results to make sure API referred to “Application Programming Interface” in every counted hit.

At any rate, the top 10 states with the highest percentages (dividing API hits by employment) are Washington State, Louisiana, Delaware, California, New York, Georgia, Illinois, Texas, Colorado, and Arizona.

Should you move to California?

When I wrote this section in 2018, I lived in California (the “San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara” MSA). Since and California frequently appears at the top of these employment and API lists, I’ll comment a bit on API jobs in this location. Keep in mind that the following observations are from that time. California (specifically Silicon Valley, which roughly spans from San Francisco to San Jose) continues to be a hub (if not the hub) for API technical writer jobs.

The number of tech writers in the area fluctuates quite a bit. Here’s the data from the last several Salary Database for San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA, starting in 2007 (the first year the STC started publishing the report):

Overall, San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara was a hot area for tech writer jobs in 2018. The employment levels had been relatively flat for a decade but jumped up 34% in 2017. I can certainly see the effects of the job growth in this area. I get emails from recruiters pinging me several times a week, trying to fill positions. At my own company, I’ve seen how difficult it is to find qualified candidates for developer doc positions. At times, it seems like the candidates just aren’t here.

Since then, the numbers have dropped. In the May 2025 BLS data, the San Jose metro area had about 920 technical writers, and the San Francisco metro area had about 1,020. The Washington, DC, New York, Boston, Los Angeles, and Seattle metro areas each employed more technical writers than either Bay Area metro.

However, California has some drawbacks, mainly with housing and traffic. To live in Silicon Valley, you likely need the dual income of two working professionals to survive financially. Alternatively, you probably need to be single and willing to share a house with roommates. Or just be willing to live in an older, smaller house in an ugly part of town. Traffic along the 101 can also crawl at a snail’s pace during rush hour.

That said, given the increased exodus of tech professionals in the Silicon Valley area (some estimate that 46% are leaving because housing is so unaffordable), the need and opportunity for tech writers will be even greater in Silicon Valley.

So if you’re willing to sacrifice a few comforts related to housing — like being willing to live in a 1,000 square-foot house for $3k/month rent instead of owning a $3,000 square-foot house for $1,500/month mortgage — your future could be bright in California. California has many other perks as well — beautiful beaches, mountains with awe-inspiring Sequoias and Redwoods, free city-wide wifi, bike-friendly paths, abundant parks and good schools, year-round good weather, laid-back attitudes, and more.

But living here is a tradeoff. In Tech Comm and The State of Urbanization, Danielle Villegas, frustrated by the lack of tech writer jobs in the New Jersey area but not ready to give up her nice home and garden for the urban life, writes:

Why would I want to try to get a studio apartment in San Francisco or Silicon Valley or New York City for USD $1-2 million when I can get a three-to-four bedroom house in a nice neighborhood, have some green space/a garden, a good school district for my child, for a fraction of that? Why should I have to sacrifice my time with my family and other obligations I have to my community by commuting four hours round trip every day, and sacrificing my physical and mental well-being at the same time?

It’s a tradeoff that might not make sense for the lifestyle you want. For me, I moved to California (from Utah) after our tech writing team at a Utah company was laid off. I received a generous severance package and decided to move to Silicon Valley to be in an environment that has an abundance of jobs. I have four daughters and am the primary breadwinner in my family, so it was important to be located in a place where jobs were more abundant, stable, and where salaries were more lucrative. I was willing to trade my spacious Utah house and the green garden (okay, I actually hate gardening) for the chance to work in a thriving tech space.

Having been here for five years, I honestly love it. For starters, there are a plethora of tech writing jobs here if you’re qualified. If you have a few years of experience writing developer docs and are familiar with some technical languages or frameworks, many companies will gladly open their doors. Startups offer opportunities to build doc departments and tool workflows from the ground up as well. It might be tough to land your first tech writing job here, but once you get some experience, doors open.

Working in large companies like Amazon, Google, Facebook, Linkedin, Microsoft, and more can be invigorating. I love working with mainstream commercial products like Fire TV — literally, it seems like every day I see an article talking about Amazon products or the company in some way. It’s interesting to be working in a space that has influence, which is frequently in the news (for good or bad), and which is at the forefront of technology.

These companies are shaping culture and so many other details of our lives. For example, even Fire TV may seem like a simple device, but it’s one of the technology products fueling the cord-cutter revolution that is disrupting the cable industry. Amazon is now taking TV to another category of experience by integrating Alexa into the experience (providing more of a hands-free interaction using natural language).

Alternatives to California

Before I moved to Santa Clara, I considered two alternatives besides the Bay area: Austin and Seattle. Texas offers a much more affordable housing market and many tech jobs. For 2017, the “Austin-Round Rock, TX” MSA employment numbers jumped up 34.5% (for a total of 740 tech writers) and in “Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX,” the employment jumped up 9.5% (for a total of 1,040 tech writers).

Seattle (specifically “Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA”) also has an abundance of jobs (an employment increase of 5.8%, for a total of 910 tech writers).

By May 2025, the BLS estimated about 1,220 technical writers in the Seattle metro area, about 650 in Austin, and about 660 in Houston. And the real estate market is slightly better than the Bay area but still expensive (food seems to cost more Seattle too).

Traffic in all of these cities is pretty horrible, but you might be able to avoid this by becoming a bicycle commuter (as I have). In the end, I chose California because it seemed like the Ivy League of technology spaces, so I wanted to experience it for myself.

Will I stay here forever? Probably not. I’ll probably never be able to afford a home here, but for the time being, accruing experience at some well-known companies seems like a worthwhile investment.

Overall, tech companies will continue to grow and expand outside of Silicon Valley. There’s not enough space in Silicon Valley, and the number of engineers becomes fewer and fewer as companies grow and expand. Many say that Silicon Valley’s days are over because it’s no longer practical for a startup to launch in the conditions here. So if you want to come to California to work as a technical writer, great. But many other locations might be more ideal.

For ideas on alternative areas in 2018, I looked at the “Fastest-Growing States for Technical Writers and Export and GDP Performance in 2017” section of the STC Salary Database. Michigan had a 28.0% increase in tech writer employment. Georgia had a 19.2% increase. New Mexico had a 23.3% increase.

Without looking at averages over several years, it’s hard to know whether these boosts are temporary anomalies or indicative of a continuous upward trajectory. To give better context to any growth percentages, the Salary Database says to look at the state’s overall economic growth, not just their tech comm job market. The report notes, “State employment gains are often correlated with the state’s economy. A growing economy will typically prompt new hires in nearly all industries.”

Overall, if you’re serious about choosing locations for jobs, consider these factors:

• Number of tech writers employed
• Abundance of API doc opportunities
• The industry
• Cost of living
• Health of the state’s economy
• Companies in the area you want to work for

Remote and hybrid work

The biggest change since I first wrote this topic is remote work. Since 2020, many technical writing jobs, including API documentation roles, have been posted as remote or hybrid. For these roles, where you live matters much less than it used to. However, many large tech companies have since asked employees to return to the office for at least part of the week, and fully remote roles tend to attract applicants from everywhere, which makes them more competitive.

If you’re searching for remote roles, use the remote filter on job boards such as LinkedIn and Indeed, and read the fine print. Some “remote” roles are limited to certain states, countries, or time zones, often for tax, legal, or collaboration reasons. Also, the location data in this topic still matters for hybrid roles and for in-person roles, which many companies continue to post.

How to conduct a simple test

To spot-check the job opportunities in an area, select a few cities where you might like to live, set up some job alerts on Indeed.com or LinkedIn for those areas, and then monitor the frequency of jobs there over the next few months.

Indeed will send you a daily job alert whenever there are new jobs in that area. Over a period of time, you can consistently see how many new tech writing jobs are popping up in a city. I did this when I was initially considering where to live, and without question, there were about 3-4 times more technical writing jobs appearing in San Jose than Portland, and 2-3 times more than in Seattle.

In these searches, I didn’t run comparisons for more cities, nor did I add “API” into the job title. But you can set up multiple searches and assess the results.

If you’re relocating, let companies know when you’ll be in the area. Set up as many interviews as you can during the same week. When companies see you arrive on site in person, it can allay fears about hiring someone out of state.

Conclusion

Much more could be written about where to live for API tech jobs. Based on the May 2025 employment data, the states with the most technical writers are California, Texas, North Carolina, Florida, Virginia, Massachusetts, Maryland, Georgia, Washington, and New York. Remote and hybrid roles widen the options further. On the other hand, if you want to start a farm or ranch, move to Wyoming.

Activity: Look at API documentation jobs and requirements

In this activity, you’ll get a sense of the skills needed for the jobs in your location, and then draw up a plan.

1. Go to indeed.com.
2. In the Where field, type your desired location.
3. Search for “API technical writer” or some combination of API + technical writer + developer documentation jobs.
4. Read the descriptions of 5 jobs.
5. Note a few of the salient requirements for these jobs.
6. Assess where you’re currently at with the following:
   • Portfolio with writing samples that include developer documentation
   • Technical knowledge related to developer domain
   • Experience writing developer documentation
7. Make a plan for how you’ll match up your portfolio, tech knowledge, and experience related to what these job descriptions are asking for. You might need to dedicate more time to an open-source documentation project to build up the needed skills.

About Tom Johnson

I'm an API technical writer based in the Seattle area. On this blog, I write about topics related to technical writing and communication — such as software documentation, API documentation, AI, information architecture, content strategy, writing processes, plain language, tech comm careers, and more. Check out my API documentation course if you're looking for more info about documenting APIs. Or see my posts on AI and AI course section for more on the latest in AI and tech comm.

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