Raleigh-Durham Improves Rank Among North American Tech Markets in CBRE’s Annual ‘Scoring Tech Talent’ Report

Raleigh-Durham continues to move up the leaderboard on CBRE’s annual Scoring Tech Talent report. In this year’s ranking, the Triangle moved up three spots to #16, eclipsing other large tech markets like San Diego and Phoenix. Strong tech job growth has contributed to its upward movement.

Raleigh-Durham’s tech talent workforce grew by 17.9% (11,390) between 2018-2023 to 75,150, the sixth largest job growth rate of large U.S. tech markets. Most of the region’s software engineers are employed by the tech industry (63.4%), ranking it seventh highest among North American tech markets in that concentration.

“The Raleigh-Durham market and its employers continue to benefit from the availability of tech talent generated by its top-tier universities and the influx of employees migrating to North Carolina,” said Jason High, executive vice president with CBRE in Raleigh. “The talent, and the companies that they work for, are choosing Raleigh-Durham due to the high quality of life here and the low cost of living and doing business compared to other first-tier markets. The continued growth and availability of tech talent is just one reason that Raleigh-Durham is poised to continue its upward trend on the national rankings of tech markets.”

Overall, the U.S. and Canada added 231,400 tech talent jobs in 2023. The number of U.S. tech talent workers increased by 3.6% last year, down from 7.3% in 2022 as the economy cooled. Software developers and programmers across all industries accounted for 72% of the new tech talent jobs last year, with the hiring of artificial-intelligence specialists particularly robust.

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.

For the second year, CBRE’s report examines tech talent wages paid by tech companies based on geography. The average annual tech talent wage in Raleigh-Durham has increased by 31% between 2018 and 2023 to $122,240. The region also had the ninth-highest average annual wage for software developers & programmers ($129,440) in 2023, a 28% growth since 2018.

The Triangle stood out in the report in several other key areas:

• Nearly half (49.6%) of all adults age 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, the seventh highest in North America.
• Tech degrees achieved across the region’s many notable universities (21,215) continue to outpace tech hirings (11,390), meaning Raleigh-Durham produced an excess of tech talent for expanding and relocating companies.
• Raleigh-Durham’s population of residents in their 20s grew fifth most among large tech markets between 2017-2022 (10.8%), and its population of residents in their 30s grew by 16.8% in that span. That’s third most among large markets.