Pittsburgh Ranks #30 In CBRE’s Annual ‘Scoring Tech Talent’ Report

Pittsburgh ranks #30 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.

"Despite economic obstacles earlier this year, technology continues to thrive and maintain its competitiveness not only nationwide but specifically in Pittsburgh," Michael Stuart, Vice President at CBRE in Pittsburgh. "The important role Pittsburgh’s prominent universities and highly skilled tech talent workforce play in artificial intelligence and other leading technologies, will undoubtedly attract further growth of both technology firms and skilled tech workers for the foreseeable future. Our affordable living and business operating costs are also a positive growth factor."

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. Pittsburgh had the seventh-highest average annual wage for tech talent in the tech industry ($91,542) among small tech talent markets (markets with less than 50,000 tech workers). 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.

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

• Pittsburgh has the third-largest tech talent workforce (41,680) among small markets.
• Pittsburgh produced 32,264 more tech degrees than tech jobs between 2017 and 2022, making it the third-highest education market. This means Pittsburgh produces surplus tech talent for expanding and relocating companies.
• Women accounted for 33.3% of Pittsburgh’s 5,368 tech degree graduates in 2021, the highest percentage among the top 50 U.S. markets.
• Pittsburgh’s population of people in their 30s increased by 10.3% from 2016 to 2021, the 14th-largest gain among small markets. It also saw the eighth-largest increase in residents in their 30s with college degrees (21.9%) among small markets during the same span.
• Overall, Pittsburgh ranks among the most affordable U.S. markets for tech company operating expenses. The average annual cost for operating a 500-employee tech company occupying 60,000 sq. ft. in Pittsburgh is $46.3 million, which ranks as the 18th-most affordable among the top 50 tech talent markets.
• Pittsburgh’s concentration of software engineers employed across all industries increased from 37% in 2020 to 45% in 2021.
  
  

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.