The U.S. News Best Places Data Drill Down, separate from our overall rankings, is a regular series that sheds light on multiple data points in order to help readers make the most informed decision when choosing where to live in the United States. Visit our 2016 Best Places to Live ranking to see which of the 100 most populous metro areas made it to the top of the list based on good value, desirability, a strong job market and a high quality of life.
If you’re considering a career change, you might want to think about a job as a software developer. Or an engineer. Or an electronics technician.
Technology is one of the most rapidly growing job industries in the United States. According to the Cyberstates 2016 report, published by the Computing Technology Industry Association, the technology industry has created nearly 200,000 jobs in 2015, which translates to an above-average 3-percent year-over-year growth in new jobs. This has led to more professionals working in technology-based positions, such as computer systems analyst, web developer, information security analyst and database administrator.
[See: The 20 Best Places to Find a Job in the U.S.]
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a 12-percent growth in the technology industry by 2024, which equals about 500,000 new jobs. The BLS attributes this surge to a continued increase in cloud and mobile computing, as well as more ordinary items being connected to the internet.
Although the demand for technology specialists is growing across the country, it’s stronger in some metro areas than others. We evaluated the strength of the overall job market in each of the 100 most populous metro areas (an important factor in the 2016 U.S. News Best Places to Live ranking), and the year-over-year growth of opportunities in the technology sector in those areas. Based on that analysis, these are the top 10 places to live if you work, or want to work, in the tech industry.
10. Colorado Springs, Colorado
Colorado Springs’ technology opportunities are primarily available within the area’s large military and defense community. Many defense contractors have set up posts in Colorado Springs, including BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin and Boeing Co. Technology workers have a variety of disciplines to pursue, ranging from aerospace and defense to information technology, data storage, and medical innovation and technology. Other technology companies located in Colorado Springs include Oracle America Inc., Hewlett Packard and Jabil Circuit Inc.
The Dallas area is another hub for technology, and is home to the headquarters of more than 20 Fortune 500 companies, including AT&T, Texas Instruments and Alliance Data Systems. The metro area is also a hotbed for startups. Fledgling companies in the area include SurgeryLink, which is developing technologies to reduce the risk of surgery, and Dialexa, which designs and engineers technology products for other companies. Startup creators also benefit from Dallas Startup Week, an annual celebration of the local startup community.
In Boston, the large number of medical centers, research institutions and technology startups provide ample career opportunities, especially for software developers and computer support specialists — even with competition from graduates of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Many startup companies in Boston focus on intelligent systems. For example, Neurala creates the artificial intelligence software that acts as the “brains” for robots.
[Read: 10 Places With the Highest Rates of Telecommuting.]
Central Texas is considered by many the next Silicon Valley thanks to the large number of startups found in the region’s major metro areas, including Austin. Every year, Austin hosts South by Southwest, a festival that focuses on new technology and innovative startups. This metro area is also home to established companies like Dell , as well as online vacation rental company HomeAway and online marketing company Yodle.
Seattle’s appearance on this list is a no-brainer. The headquarters for major corporations like Microsoft and Amazon are located in this metropolitan area in the Pacific Northwest. Seattle residents can also find job opportunities in biotechnology and manufacturing. Those with a passion for video games can find their dream job at one of the many video game companies located in the greater Seattle area, including Bungie, Sucker Punch Productions, Valve and Nintendo.
The District of Columbia is another ideal place for jobs in technology, thanks in large part to the presence of major government and military contractors such as Booz Allen Hamilton, Boeing Co. and BAE Systems. Additionally, a significant number of startup companies, such as SocialRadar, a company that develops location and mapping software, and DroneSheild, a drone detection software company, have also planted their roots in the area.
As the hub of the nation’s automotive industry, Detroit has been a prominent technology center for years. The Detroit Three automobile manufacturers (General Motors, Ford Motor Company and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) are based in or near Detroit. And as the demand for new features like in-vehicle internet connectivity and autonomous driving increases, these companies are looking to software developers in addition to mechanical engineers. General Motors is expecting to have 12,000 information technology workers on its payroll by the end of 2017, according to The Detroit News.
[See: The 100 Best Places to Live in the U.S.]
Albany isn’t likely to come to mind as a leading technology center, but the New York state capital region contains a number of educational and research facilities that focus on biotechnology, nanotechnology and life sciences, such as Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the State University of New York Polytechnic Institute.
Less than 60 miles from Silicon Valley, San Francisco is home to the headquarters of a growing number of major tech companies, such as Twitter, Lucasfilm, Airbnb and Uber. Alan Collenette, the regional executive managing director of real estate firm Colliers International, told CNN that 60 percent of the commercial leases signed in 2015 belonged to tech firms.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the best place to live for tech workers is located in the Silicon Valley. San Jose is home to such companies as Facebook, Google, Cisco Systems and Adobe Systems. But the market is extremely competitive, thanks in part to the thousands of engineering and computer science students who graduate from local universities like Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley each year.
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10 Best Places to Find a Job in Technology originally appeared on usnews.com
