Did you know? Tech companies are the highest-paying internships in the U.S. in 2017

By Tian DuBelko

On Tuesday, recruiting and job site Glassdoor released its list of the 25 highest-paying internships in the United States for 2017, and tech companies dominated the list.

Seattle Tech Dominance

17 of the 25 spots were tech companies, and many of them are based in Seattle or have satellite offices located in the Puget Sound region.

This doesn’t come as a huge surprise, considering Seattle workers are the second-best paid techies in the U.S. The booming industry has also attracted foreign skilled worker under the H1B Visa, with the average worker making $104,758 in 2016.

Facebook, Microsoft, and Amazon were ranked 1st, 2nd, and 5th, respectively, with Apple coming in 6th. This is the second year in a row that Facebook’s internship program took down the top spot. “Open, world-class mentors and opportunities for real impact” were cited as reasons for the social media giant’s top ranking.

Good Pay

Plus, it doesn’t hurt that a Facebook intern’s median monthly pay is $8,000. Scaled for a full 12 months, the pay is $96,000. That’s nearly twice the median annual salary of $51,350 for a U.S. worker as reported by Glassdoor’s Local Pay Reports.

In fact, the biggest perk for these internships might be the pay.

Just look at Microsoft, whose 12-week summer internship program came in No.2 on the list. The program pays around $7,100 a month and is designed for students trying to gain experience in various software engineering positions.

Internship Benefits

“Microsoft has their hands on absolutely everything, so you get to talk to a lot of very smart and interesting people,” said a former intern in the Glassdoor press release. “Probably has the best intern benefits out there. Intern events are amazing. I’ve had great mentors.”

Seattle-based Amazon came in 5th. Their internship program offered hands-on experience across different disciplines. It paid a median monthly average of $6,400, which would be $76,800 over a full 12 months.

Of the benefits, one former intern said, “Great supervisor, great benefits, great location, great work experience. I learned a ton in this position that I believe will serve me well in future endeavors.”

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