D.C. Region Ranks #4 in CBRE’s Annual ‘Scoring Tech Talent’ Report

The Washington, D.C. region ranks #4 overall in CBRE’s 2023 Scoring Tech Talent report, 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. The Washington, D.C. region added 17,100 tech talent workers from 2017-2022, bringing the total to 265,240 tech talent jobs, a 7% increase and higher than the national employment growth. Tech talent jobs now comprise an 8.8% share of the D.C. region’s total employment.

“The Washington, D.C. region is distinguished by its highly educated and diverse workforce when compared to other major markets,” says CBRE Senior Vice President Caroline Bour. “Despite recent layoffs effecting the broader tech industry, our region’s high concentration of tech talent supporting the government, which has proven to be a relatively stable industry sector during previous recessions, will help accelerate the market’s recovery.”

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. The D.C. region had the 7th highest average annual wage for tech talent ($105,808) in the tech industry. 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.

The D.C. region stood out in the report in several other key areas:

• The D.C. region is the top market for educational attainment with 53.4% of residents over 25 years old with a bachelor’s degree or higher, well above the national average of 35%.
• It has the fourth highest total (13,688) of tech degree completions in 2021. The number of tech-related degrees grew in North America by 60,000 between 2017 and 2021.
• It creates more tech graduates (62,770 from 2017 to 2021) than tech jobs (30,840 from 2018 to 2022), meaning it produces a surplus of tech talent for expanding and relocating companies.
• Washington, D.C. was the top market for female diversity in tech talent among large markets. It saw the smallest differential between the share of females in tech talent and the share of females in office-using industries, although the percentage was still negative at -18.6%.
• The top industries employing tech talent in the D.C. region are core high-tech (40.0%) and government (21.9%).
• In comparison to other Gateway cities, the D.C. region has relatively affordable real estate costs for a Top 5 tech hub. Its average annual office asking rent ($42.25 per sq. ft.) is seventh most expensive, ranking it as more affordable than the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, New York, LA/OC and Boston. Its average monthly apartment rent ($2,040 a month) is ninth most expensive and its ratio of tech salary to apartment rent of 20.6% is 13th highest.

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.