Bay Area's AI Job Growth Offsets Broader Tech Pullback, CBRE’s Annual Scoring Tech Talent Report Shows

The San Francisco Bay Area's technology workforce is undergoing an AI-driven transformation, with the region adding more than 20,000 artificial intelligence jobs over the past year, even as its overall tech talent workforce contracted by 6% since 2022, according to CBRE's 2026 Scoring Tech Talent report.

This underscores a shift in employment from traditional technology roles to AI-focused positions, helping the Bay Area extend its lead as North America's largest AI talent hub, with nearly 99,000 AI-skilled workers. The New York Metro is No. 2 with nearly 68,000 AI-skilled workers.

CBRE's 13th annual Scoring Tech Talent report analyzes 75 markets in the U.S. and Canada, ranks the top 50 markets and outlines tech labor market trends. This year's report highlights the clustering of AI jobs; 37% of AI jobs in the U.S. are found in the San Francisco Bay Area, New York City, Seattle and Washington, D.C.

That AI expansion over the past year, a 45% increase to 751,000 AI-related workers in the U.S. and Canada as of June 2026, has bolstered top tech-talent markets. The Bay Area remains the clear leader in artificial intelligence talent and has the largest concentration of AI-specialty work in North America. AI-related positions now account for 57% of all tech job postings in the Bay Area, up from 20% in 2022.

"The Bay Area continues to set the pace for innovation globally, particularly in artificial intelligence," said Colin Yasukochi, Executive Director, CBRE Tech Insights. "What we're seeing is a realignment of the regional tech ecosystem toward higher-value AI skills. The concentration of talent, venture capital, leading universities and innovative companies continues to make the Bay Area the premier destination for AI development and investment."

Across North America, CBRE expects the AI industry's momentum to benefit office markets in key hubs. In San Francisco, AI companies have accounted for 30% of leasing activity, nearly 11 million sq. ft., since 2019. CBRE's earlier Tech Gateway Office Markets report highlights that, apart from San Francisco, AI leasing activity was mostly concentrated in Manhattan (4.0 million sq. ft.), Boston (nearly 3.7 million) and Seattle (1.7 million) since 2019.

Top Markets for AI Employment as of June 2026

Market	AI Employment	Market	AI Employment
San Francisco Bay Area	98,699	Dallas-Fort Worth	29,840
New York Metro	67,949	Los Angeles-Orange County	28,600
Seattle	41,591	Boston	27,494
Washington, D.C.	33,515	Chicago	21,207
Toronto	33,419	Atlanta	19,576

Tech Talent Rankings

CBRE defines tech talent as highly skilled workers across more than 20 technology-oriented occupations in all industries, including computer and information systems managers, software developers and hardware engineers. CBRE ranks North American tech talent markets through a weighted analysis of 13 metrics such as tech talent concentration, tech talent pipeline and research and development investment.

Tech Talent Top 10 By Index Score

Market	Tech Talent Score	Market	Tech Talent Score
San Francisco	81.98	Washington, D.C.	62.95
Seattle	74.37	Boston	62.88
Toronto	72.73	Dallas-Fort Worth	62.25
New York Metro	70.38	Vancouver	60.52
Austin	64.26	Waterloo Region	60.00

The report highlights several key strengths that helped the Bay Area maintain its top ranking:

• The market has the highest quality tech talent and highest average annual tech talent wage in North America at $195,142.
• The region has the highest share of software engineers working in the tech industry at 68.9%.
• The Bay Area's educational attainment rate is among the nation's highest, with 54.5% of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher
• It remains home to two of the nation's leading universities for AI programs and share of computer science graduates: Stanford University and UC Berkeley, which help sustain a strong pipeline of emerging talent.
• Though the Bay Area is known as an expensive market, the area’s ratio of average monthly apartment rent to its annual average tech wage (19.7%) is only the ninth most expensive among the top 50 markets.