Phoenix Ranks Among the Top 20 North American Tech Markets in CBRE’s Annual ‘Scoring Tech Talent’ Report

Phoenix ranks #19 overall in CBRE’s 2024 Scoring Tech Talent report, as tech talent hiring in North America slowed despite strong growth in artificial-intelligence specialties, according to a new report from CBRE.

Phoenix’s tech talent workforce of 108,380 grew by 17.2% between 2018 and 2023. Computer and information systems managers across all industries grew by 87.6% over this same timeframe. The number of U.S. tech talent workers increased by 3.6% last year, down from 7.3% in 2022 as the economy cooled.

Overall, the U.S. and Canada added 231,400 tech talent jobs in 2023 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.

Phoenix created more tech graduates (28,592 from 2018 to 2022) than tech jobs (15,890 from 2019 to 2023). This was highlighted by the 33.3% increase between 2017 to 2022 in the Valley's population of people in their 20s with a college degree, the fourth-ranked U.S. market with the biggest gain. Additionally, Phoenix posted the eighth-largest growth (21.5%) among large markets for residents in their 30s with college degrees.

The Valley has relatively affordable real estate costs for a leading tech hub, as the area ranks #18 in estimated one-year company costs at $54.3 million. Its average annual office asking rent ($31.39 per sq. ft.) and average monthly apartment rent ($1,574) rank among the middle of the Top 50 markets.

For the second year, CBRE’s report examines tech talent wages paid by tech companies based on geography. Phoenix’s average annual wage for tech talent employed by the tech industry increased year over year by $13,663 in 2022 to $97,977. The San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle had the highest average wages.

"Phoenix is delivering tech professionals and recent tech degree graduates with higher wages and opportunities,” said Tim Kempton, associate at CBRE. "The market’s expansion of its pool of residents in their 20s and 30s no doubt is a factor in the continued migration of companies to Phoenix."

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 a group of highly skilled workers in more than 20 tech-oriented occupations – such as software engineers and systems and data managers – across all industries.

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