Navigating India's Job Market: Why Emerging Cities Are the New Salary Hotspots for Freshers!
In a surprising shift in India's job landscape, the traditional dominance of mega-metros like Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru for career growth is being challenged.
A new report, Indeed's PayMap Survey 2025, reveals that salary growth is no longer limited to just metro cities, with emerging urban centers rapidly gaining traction as prime destinations for career building and a balanced lifestyle.
According to the survey, cities like Hyderabad, Chennai, and Ahmedabad are rapidly emerging as new salary growth hubs, even surpassing traditional metros in some aspects. Companies are increasingly willing to offer better packages to attract talent in these cities, indicating a significant change in the employment paradigm across the nation.
Chennai Leads the Pack for Freshers If you're a recent graduate with 0-2 years of experience, Chennai has emerged as the city offering the highest average salary for freshers, with young professionals earning up to ₹30,100 per month.While Chennai leads for entry-level professionals,
Hyderabad is proving exceptionally beneficial for those with more experience, with average salaries at mid and senior levels (5-8 years of experience) reaching ₹69,700 per month. Other notable cities for fresher salaries include Hyderabad (₹28,500), Bengaluru (₹28,400), and Ahmedabad (₹27,300).
The Shifting Balance: Affordability and Lifestyle One of the most compelling reasons behind this shift is the rising cost of living in traditional, expensive cities. The survey highlights that a significant 69% of employees feel their income falls short of their city's cost of living. This problem is particularly acute in major metros.
• Delhi: 96% of employees feel their income is less than their city's cost of living.
• Mumbai: 95%3.
• Pune: 94%3.
• Bengaluru: 93%3.
In stark contrast, cities like Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, and Kolkata are considered more affordable and balanced by employees, making them increasingly attractive options for professionals seeking a better quality of life alongside career growth. This desire for balance also translates into increased relocation hesitancy, with approximately 69% of employees now avoiding changing cities due to associated financial, emotional, and practical challenges
.
Top Sectors for High-Paying Jobs The demand for talent is high across various sectors, but some stand out for their salary offerings:
- The IT/ITeS sector continues to lead in salary growth, driven by the increasing demand for digital and AI-based jobs.
The manufacturing and telecom sectors are also offering better salaries across all experience levels, from freshers to senior professionals.
For freshers (0-2 years of experience), the average salary across various sectors ranges from ₹25,000 to ₹30,5005. Specifically, the IT/ITeS sector offers an average of ₹28,600 for freshers, making it the highest among the listed sectors, followed by telecommunications (₹28,100) and e-commerce (₹27,700).
For professionals with 5-8 years of experience, average salaries range from ₹67,000 to ₹85,5005. IT/ITeS again leads with an average of ₹68,900 for this experience band, followed closely by Manufacturing (₹68,200) and Telecommunication (₹67,700). Interestingly, UI/UX designers are now earning comparable salaries to software developers, approximately ₹65,000 per month.
This comprehensive survey, conducted by Valuvox on behalf of Indeed, gathered insights from 1,311 employers and 2,531 employees across 14 industries and 16 job profiles, providing a clear picture of post-pandemic salary trends and employee expectations in India.
