According to Cyberstates™ 2018, tech employment in the United States expanded by nearly 200,000 jobs in 2017, to an estimated 11.5 million workers. At $1.6 trillion, the tech sector is one of the largest components of the nation’s economy, reports technology industry association CompTIA.
The economic power of the tech industry is evident in nearly every state. The industry is a top-five economic contributor in 22 states and in the top 10 of 42 states.
The outlook for tech employment points to a continuation of the growth trend, which has seen tech jobs increase by about 200,000 each year since 2010. Projections from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate the base of tech occupations will increase by 626,000 jobs by 2026. When factoring in the need to replace retiring or career-change workers, the total potential tech workforce reaches 1.2 million through 2026.
Beyond the numbers of new jobs, many of these positions have salaries well above those in other industries. According to Cyberstates 2018, the average annual wage in the tech industry is $112,890. This salary is 107% higher than the average annual wage for all jobs ($54,420).
Among other key findings from Cyberstates 2018:
- 38 states saw positive tech employment growth in 2017, slightly better than 2016, when 36 states experienced growth. The top five states for net job gains in 2017 were California (43,600), Texas (13,400), Michigan (13,200), Florida (12,000), and New York (10,400).
- On a percentage change basis, the top five states for 2017 tech job growth were Utah (+ 3.6 percent), Michigan (+ 3.4 percent), North Carolina (+3.1 percent), Washington (+ 2.9), and Idaho (+ 2.8 percent).
- At 10.6%, Massachusetts has the highest concentration of tech workers relative to its overall employment base. Following are Washington (9.9%), Virginia (9.9%), the District of Columbia (9.7%), and Colorado (9.7%).
- Nationally, the composition of the tech sector workforce is 66% men and 34% women, unchanged from 2016. The District of Columbia (39.8%) has the highest concentration of women in its tech workforce, followed by South Dakota, North Carolina, Wisconsin and Missouri.
- The number of tech business establishments across the country grew for the sixth consecutive year and now totals nearly 503,000 businesses.
Cyberstates 2018 (#cyberstates) is based on CompTIA‘s analysis of data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, EMSI, Burning Glass Technologies Labor Insights and other sources. Estimates for 2017 are subject to change as government data is revised and updated. The complete Cyberstates 2018 report, with complete national, state and metropolitan level data, is available at http://cyberstates.org/
