The metro’s tech employment base has grown 90 percent in five years
TUCSON – Tucson was ranked #1 on CBRE’s list of up-and-coming tech talent markets in the firm’s annual Scoring Tech Talent Report, which ranks 50 U.S. and Canadian markets according to their ability to attract and grow tech talent.
The new report found that the 10 fastest-growing markets overall increased their tech labor pools by between 33% and 54% over the past five years. Tucson’s tech workforce grew 90 percent over the last five years to 15,700 tech workers—the highest five-year job growth of all 50 small, large and up-and-coming markets included in the report. Additionally, Tucson surpassed all other markets for five-year annual tech wage growth, which has grown 29 percent to $90,528.
The top 10 up-and-coming markets and their associated tech talent job growth rates over the last five years were:
“Tucson has many ingredients to justify itself as the top up-and-coming tech talent market,” said Matt Siegel, Managing Director of CBRE in Tucson. “There are many initiatives by the University of Arizona and private sector development that has created a tech ecosystem that should continue to thrive. Venture development by the University of Arizona coupled with many growing companies in Tucson has attracted talent to Southern Arizona and there have been numerous innovative different companies that have established a presence and been able to capitalize on the resources that Tucson has to offer businesses and families.”
The top five markets for tech talent in 2019 were the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, Toronto, Washington, D.C., and New York, all large markets with a tech labor pool of more than 50,000. The Tech Talent Scorecard is determined based on 13 unique metrics, including tech talent supply, growth, concentration, cost, completed tech degrees, industry outlook for job growth, and market outlook for both office and apartment rent cost growth.
View full Tech Talent 2019 Report here . To view individual market statistics and rankings, including rankings on the Scorecard, access CBRE’s Tech Talent Analyzer.