America's quant hubs: New York, Chicago, Miami, Austin, Connecticut and Boston compared

In June 2022 Ken Griffin told Citadel's staff that the firm was moving its global headquarters from Chicago to Miami. Four years later, the clearest public count of where Citadel's investment professionals actually work shows 576 in New York City and 21 in Miami. That gap is a useful caution about headquarters moves: a headquarters can move quickly, while the people who run money may not. This guide covers six hubs and how pay, prices and tax compare.

Last reviewed 2026-10-04. Every figure below is labeled: official (a firm, regulator or tax authority), reported (press), or self-reported (Levels.fyi), with the year. Treat this as a sourced starting map.

The short version

The price column is the Bureau of Economic Analysis "regional price parity" for each metro area in 2024. It covers whole metros, so Manhattan or Brickell alone will be pricier.

New York: still the center of gravity

Several of the biggest names are headquartered here. Jane Street calls New York "the first and largest of our offices". Hudson River Trading lists its New York office at 3 World Trade Center, one of 14 offices worldwide. Two Sigma is headquartered at 100 Avenue of the Americas with about 1,700 employees globally, and D. E. Shaw is at Two Manhattan West. (All official, accessed 2026-10-04.) Optiver now lists New York among its offices (official), a move Bloomberg covered in August 2025 under the headline "A $17 Billion Options Trader Is Coming to Take on NYC Flash Boys" (reported).

The Citadel numbers in the opening come from eFinancialCareers' reading of Citadel's 2025 Form ADV regulatory filing (reported, April 2026). If you want the multi-manager path, investing inside a pod, then at Citadel, by that filing, most of those seats are in New York.

Pay signals. On Levels.fyi, quant developers in the New York City area report a median total compensation of $223,200, with a 25th to 90th percentile range of $170,000 to $420,000, from 57 submissions. (Self-reported, as of October 2026.) eFinancialCareers' January 2026 analysis of US H-1B salary filings for quantitative researchers put the New York average base at $198k against $190k nationally, from more than 270 data points since early 2025. (Reported, 2026.) Both samples skew: Levels.fyi reflects who submits, and H-1B data leaves out citizens, green card holders and many senior people.

Tax. New York is the costliest hub for a high earner, because you pay twice. For a single filer in tax year 2025, New York State charges 6.85% on taxable income from $215,400 to $1,077,550, 9.65% from there to $5m, 10.3% to $25m and 10.9% above that; New York City residents add a city tax of 3.876% on taxable income above $50,000. Above $107,650 of New York adjusted gross income, the state's worksheets also add "recapture" amounts that claw back the benefit of the lower brackets. (Official: NY Form IT-201 instructions, 2025.)

Whether that rises was a live question in 2026. Zohran Mamdani campaigned for mayor on a 2% tax on incomes above $1m (reported, eFinancialCareers, November 2025). The state budget passed in May 2026 did not raise personal income tax rates and did not give the city permission to raise its own; the one new city levy was a pied-a-terre tax on second homes worth $5m or more. (Reported: New York Focus, May 29, 2026.)

Chicago: the derivatives town

Chicago's quant identity is derivatives market making, and the firms describe it that way. Optiver calls Chicago its "US headquarters and the center of our US options business and technology team", based in "one of the world's leading derivatives markets". Belvedere Trading, a market maker, is headquartered on South Riverside Plaza. DRW lists its Chicago office at 540 W Madison first among 13 offices, HRT has a Chicago office on South Wacker Drive, and Jump, Two Sigma, Point72 and IMC all list Chicago among their locations. (All official, accessed 2026-10-04.) If your goal is an options trading seat, Chicago is the obvious first stop.

Citadel's move did take something away. At the time of the 2022 memo, Fortune reported Citadel and Citadel Securities had more than 1,000 employees in Illinois, and Griffin wrote that "Chicago will continue to be important to the future of Citadel" while noting that many Chicago teams had asked to relocate. (Official memo and reported, June 2022.) The April 2026 ADV reading says Citadel's Chicago investment headcount has since fallen. (Reported, 2026.)

Pay signals. Chicago-area quant developers on Levels.fyi report a median of $262,500 and a 25th to 90th percentile range of $185,000 to $460,000, from 37 submissions. (Self-reported, as of October 2026.) That beats New York's median, which more likely reflects who submits than Chicago paying more.

Tax and prices. Illinois taxes individual income at a flat 4.95%, a rate in effect since July 1, 2017 (official, Illinois Department of Revenue). The Chicago metro's 2024 price level was 103.6, and its housing index was 112.0 against New York's 148.6 (official, BEA).

Miami and Palm Beach: the newest pull

The official start date is June 23, 2022, when Griffin's memo said: "Citadel is moving its global headquarters to Miami." (Official, via Fortune.) Other firms list Florida offices too: Point72 lists offices on Brickell Avenue in Miami and in West Palm Beach, Hudson River Trading lists a Miami office on Brickell Avenue, and Two Sigma lists Palm Beach Gardens. (Official, accessed 2026-10-04.)

eFinancialCareers counted "nearly 400 people" across Citadel and its sister market maker Citadel Securities in Miami, and suggested that those working for the hedge fund rather than the market maker are "presumably in technology and other support roles" (reported, April 2026). Bisnow reported around 500 people at the existing Brickell office in June 2026 (reported, 2026). For Citadel's hedge fund, the investment side is the thin part so far: 21 investment professionals in Miami versus 576 in New York, per the same ADV reading. That figure comes from one firm's filing, so it only hints at the city as a whole.

The permanent headquarters is still a construction site. Bisnow reported in June 2026 that Citadel plans to occupy about 561,000 square feet, roughly a third of the 1.7 million square foot tower at 1201 Brickell Bay Drive, with work having begun in March 2026. On September 14, 2026, a drilling rig collapsed on the site and Miami-Dade County issued a stop-work order; as of Bisnow's September 21 report, "it is unclear what caused the accident and how long the investigation will take." (Reported, 2026.)

The longer bet is on the talent pipeline. On September 30, 2026, the Associated Press reported a record $3 billion gift from Griffin to Carnegie Mellon University, $2 billion of it for a 35-acre campus in Miami's Wynwood neighborhood serving about 3,500 students (the rest goes to computer science naming and Pittsburgh projects), with construction scheduled to begin next year. (Reported, 2026.)

Pay signals. eFinancialCareers' January 2026 H-1B analysis found that "Miami is the top paying city in the US" for quantitative researchers in its sample, by average H-1B base salary (reported, 2026). eFinancialCareers did not publish the Miami figure or sample size, and base salary leaves out bonuses. Levels.fyi did not show a quant developer median for the Miami area as of 2026-10-04.

Tax and prices. "The State of Florida does not have a personal income tax." (Official, Florida Department of Revenue.) But prices are high: the Miami metro's 2024 price level was 114.2, above New York's 112.6, and its housing index was 155.6 against New York's 148.6. (Official, BEA, metro-wide.) A recruiter told eFinancialCareers in November 2025 that many senior New Yorkers say they will move "as soon as my kids go to college", and the same analysis found quant and software roles made up 25% of the past year's talent flow to Florida. (Reported, 2025.)

Austin: machine learning, research and systematic trading

Optiver gives the most detailed public description of an Austin office, as a hub for machine learning, research infrastructure and ML-based systematic trading. It says Austin "is where Optiver's ambitions in machine learning, research infrastructure, and big data computing are being realized", with teams building "systematic, machine learning-based trading systems across futures, equities, and fixed income markets globally". HRT lists an office on South 1st Street, Jump lists Austin among its locations, and DRW lists an office on West 6th Street, which it traces to its 2017 acquisition of RGM Advisors, an Austin equities trading firm. (All official, accessed 2026-10-04.) Fast Company reported in December 2019 that Citadel Securities was opening an Austin office (reported).

Texas has no personal income tax (official, Texas Comptroller), and Austin's 2024 metro price level of 98.1 was the only one in this guide below the national average (official, BEA). Levels.fyi did not show a quant developer median for Greater Austin as of 2026-10-04. For developers and researchers who want top-firm problems without New York prices, Austin is worth a look. Our quant developer interview guide covers what those interviews test.

Greenwich, Stamford and Westport: the Connecticut corridor

Several large hedge funds sit in southwestern Connecticut, within commuting distance of Manhattan. AQR has been headquartered in Greenwich since 2004 and lists One Greenwich Plaza today, Point72 lists 72 Cummings Point Road in Stamford, and Bridgewater is at One Nyala Farms Road in Westport. (All official, accessed 2026-10-04.)

Connecticut's top income tax rate is 6.99% on taxable income above $500,000 for a single filer (Tax Foundation, 2026). The common trap is commuting the other way: if you live in Connecticut but your primary office is in New York, New York taxes your New York source income, and "your days telecommuting are considered days worked in the state unless your employer has established a bona fide employer office at your telecommuting location." (Official, New York State Department of Taxation and Finance.) The Bridgeport-Stamford metro price level was 106.9 in 2024, with housing at 150.5 (official, BEA).

Boston: small but real

HRT lists Boston among its US offices (official). On Levels.fyi, Greater Boston quant developers report a median of $214,000 from just 15 submissions (self-reported, October 2026), too few to read much into. Massachusetts taxes wages at 5.00%, and since 2023 adds a 4% surtax on taxable income above $1m, indexed for inflation (official, Massachusetts tax expenditure budget). Boston's 2024 metro price level was 108.3 (official, BEA).

How to use this when choosing

1. Pick the work first. Options market making has a deep Chicago base. Several well-known systematic and multi-manager funds are headquartered in New York or Connecticut, and at Citadel most investment professionals sit in New York. Optiver's Austin office mixes machine learning research with systematic trading. Citadel's Miami headquarters, by its 2025 ADV, holds few of its investment professionals so far; Citadel Securities, Point72 and HRT also have Miami offices.
2. Compare after tax and after rent. No state income tax is worth more the higher your income, but Miami's housing costs eat into it at junior pay levels.
3. Read tax rules for where you work as well as where you live. New York's telecommuting rule and the tax on income sourced to a state can follow you.
4. Do not over-read small pay samples. City medians on self-reported sites move with whoever submits.

The Citadel, Optiver and HRT firm guides list the rounds candidates report, with a source label on every claim.

This article is general information and does not constitute legal or tax advice. QuantReady is an independent prep platform and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any firm named here. All trademarks belong to their respective owners. If something here is out of date, tell us via /contact.

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