This city has the most competition for a ‘highly paid’ job—it’s not New York or San Francisco

What qualifies as a high paying gig depends on the cost of living in your job market — and you may face stiffer competition depending on your location, too.

Job candidates hoping to inch closer to the six-figure salary mark will have the hardest time in inland cities like Salt Lake City, St. Louis and Denver, according to a new analysis from Career.io, a career management platform.

The site identified the cities with the highest rates of people applying for highly paid jobs, defined as double the local average wage, based on LinkedIn and Bureau of Labor Statistics data. The analysis considers in-person jobs in the 200 most populated U.S. cities, plus the five biggest cities in each state.

In Salt Lake City, a high-paying job at twice the local average wage is anything that pays $94,515 or more. However, openings with that salary threshold see an average of roughly 35 applicants per day.

The No. 10 most competitive city, New York, sees just about 10 applicants per day for every high-paying job with a salary of $114,774 or more.

Here are the cities with the toughest competition for highly paid jobs:

1. Salt Lake City, Utah: 34.9 daily applicants per job paying $94,515 or more
2. St. Louis, Missouri: 33.4 daily applicants per job paying $91,978 or more
3. Denver, Colorado: 31.9 daily applicants per job paying $109,202 or more
4. San Jose, California: 29.6 daily applicants per job paying $153,462 or more
5. Kansas City, Kansas: 27.4 daily applicants per job paying $92,810 or more
6. San Francisco, California: 24.1 daily applicants per job paying $131,040 or more
7. Santa Ana, California: 22.3 daily applicants per job paying $96,928 or more
8. Los Angeles, California: 21.8 daily applicants per job paying $96,928 or more
9. Jersey City, New Jersey: 21.2 daily applicants per job paying $114,774 or more
10. New York City, New York: 10.2 daily applicants per job paying $114,774 or more

Most of the high-paid and competitive jobs in these cities are C-suite and managerial roles, says Taylor Tomita, senior outreach specialist at NeoMam Studios, a creative marketing agency that works with Career.io.

Rapid population growth could play a role in the fierce job market competition in places like Salt Lake City. The number of residents there has grown 7.8% from 2012 to 2022, outpacing the national growth rate during that time period, according to Census Bureau data.

Average education levels can be a factor, too: In Denver, 54% of adults have a bachelor’s degree, among the most of any city, which could mean more competition for high-salary jobs requiring a college or advanced degree.

Hiring experts have a few tips for standing out in a competitive market.

First, timing is of the essence. Apply to jobs within the first 48 hours they’re posted. Tuesdays and Thursdays are popular days to scour new job listings, says Marissa Morrison, vice president of people at the job search site ZipRecruiter. Many online job boards allow you to set alerts for specific positions or companies so you can be among the first to apply.

Your chances of getting a call back significantly decrease 72 hours after the job is published online, even if you’re a qualified candidate, says career expert Amanda Augustine. “This is usually because, by that point, the employer has already received enough applications to filter through and begin preliminary phone screens,” she tells CNBC Make It.

Second, network with people and recruiters at companies you’re interested in to hear about openings before they’re made public. If you know them well enough, consider asking them for a referral.

“Companies still heavily rely on employee referrals to fill positions, as these employees tend to stay longer and perform better within the organization,” Augustine says. “While you’ll still need to apply for the job using the company’s official channels, you can often incorporate your referral into your cover letter or the online application process.”

You can also ask your contact to pass along a copy of your resume and cover letter to the recruiter or hiring manager with their endorsement, she adds.

Remember, a highly paid job will attract a lot of top candidates in your field. Make sure you’re clear in your application materials about why you stand out based on your specialized skills and certifications, key experiences where you made an impact on a business’s bottom line, notable achievements or industry knowledge. Using AI can be helpful here, just make sure to proofread.

Finally, consider sending the hiring manager or recruiter a personalized email or LinkedIn message, says Nolan Church, a former Google and DoorDash recruiter.

Church previously told CNBC Make It that while he was at DoorDash, CEO Tony Xu would get such emails and “he would forward them directly to me every time,” he says, adding that “probably 90% of the time, we took calls with those people.”

Want to land your dream job in 2024? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Ace Your Job Interview to learn what hiring managers are really looking for, body language techniques, what to say and not to say, and the best way to talk about pay.