Austin Ranks #6 In CBRE’s Annual ‘Scoring Tech Talent’ Report

Austin ranks #6 overall in CBRE’s 2023 Scoring Tech Talent report, keeping its same spot as last year as macroeconomic headwinds slowed tech talent hiring by major tech firms in North America, according to a new report from CBRE.

Overall, the U.S. and Canada added a net 760,000 tech talent jobs since 2020 across established hubs such as the San Francisco Bay Area, New York, Seattle and Vancouver as well as smaller markets like Nashville, Cleveland and Canada’s Waterloo Region. The number of U.S. tech talent workers increased 7.3% from May 2021 to May 2022, which is significantly higher than the 5% growth in total U.S. employment in May 2022. Software developers and programmers across all industries accounted for more than half of the new tech talent employment.

Austin stood out in the report in several other key areas:

• Austin’s tech talent workforce of 96,610 grew by 39% from 2017 to 2022, adding 27,000 new jobs. That’s tied with San Lake City for the fourth largest percentage gain among large tech talent markets.
• It has the third highest percentage of software engineers working in the tech industry at 65.1%, behind only the San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle. Austin created more tech jobs (22,160 from 2017 to 2021) than tech graduates (14,124 from 2018 to 2022), meaning the metro imports a large amount of tech talent.
• Half of all Austin residents over the age of 25 have earned at least a bachelor’s degree, the sixth highest educational attainment rate of any tech market.
• Austin’s tech talent employed in the tech industry had the sixth highest average annual wages in 2021 at $105,495.
• Its population of residents in their 30s with college degrees increased by 52.4%, by far the most of any other large tech market, between 2016 and 2021. Its population of residents in their 20s with college degrees also increased by 28.5%, fourth best of any large tech market over the same period.

“Despite recent tech sector headwinds, Austin’s labor market remains one of the fastest-growing and highest quality in the U.S.,” said Nate Stricklen, Executive Vice President with CBRE in Austin. “These factors, combined with our fantastic standard of living, will continue to attract the biggest and best tech employers to our great city for years to come.”

CBRE’s annual Scoring Tech Talent report covers 75 North American markets, ranks the top 50 tech markets in the U.S. and Canada and outlines tech talent labor market trends amid economic shifts and increased remote hiring. CBRE also ranks the Next 25 emerging tech markets on a narrower set of criteria. Tech talent is defined as 20 key tech professions – such as software engineers and systems and data managers – across all industries.

For the first time this year, CBRE’s report examines tech talent wages paid by tech companies based on geography. Austin had the 6th highest average annual wage for tech talent ($105,495). The San Francisco Bay Area ($185,425) and Seattle ($172,009) had the highest average wages, while Sacramento ($107,580) and Jacksonville ($105,353) were the highest among small markets.

To download the full report, click here.

Additionally, CBRE’s latest tech talent analyzer provides an interactive, in-depth comparison of tech talent in different markets. For more information, click here.