Small and concentrated: Patterns of technology employment in the US revealed
A view of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts – Copyright CNA/AFP STR
The U.S. has a strong connection with technology, although the numbers employed in the sector and the proportions of those in employment, amount to relatively small figures compared with many other countries.
Global uncertainty also impacts the sector, not least due to the global issues with silicon chip production. The primary challenges are presented as issues around supply chains, workforce, and innovation.
Despite recent mass layoffs, a sizable proportion of people are employed in the technology sector (albeit a relatively small number compared with more mainstream manufacturing). There were 264,500 tech industry jobs added to the market last year. The increase in work is skewed towards certain locations in the U.S. This is apparent in a new study.
The data comes from Proxyrack, who have analyzed technology employment rates. These data have been combined with information for the percentage of workforce in the technology industry, median tech industry salaries, the number of technology universities, average download speed, broadband coverage and identifying the technology headquarters for each U.S. state.
The outcomes are:
| Rank | State | Net Tech Employment per 100,000 | Workforce in Tech | Median Tech Salary | Median Tech Salary cf. State Average |
| 1 | Massachusetts | 4,321 | 8.6% | $105,721 | 99% |
| 2 | Colorado | 3,987 | 8.3% | $99,300 | 115% |
| 3 | Virginia | 4,013 | 8.7% | $105,412 | 136% |
| 4 | New Jersey | 2,678 | 6.2% | $104,692 | 119% |
| 5 | Washington | 4,219 | 9.4% | $124,653 | 147% |
| 6 | Maryland | 3,379 | 7.8% | $105,280 | 119% |
| 7 | California | 3,529 | 7.8% | $116,729 | 152% |
| 8 | New Hampshire | 3,906 | 7.8% | $94,358 | 114% |
| 9 | New York | 2,487 | 5.5% | $98,956 | 103% |
| 10 | Illinois | 2,488 | 5.4% | $93,724 | 116% |
| 11 | Georgia | 2,580 | 6.0% | $92,001 | 139% |
| 12 | Utah | 3,369 | 6.9% | $82,534 | 109% |
| 13 | Texas | 2,641 | 5.9% | $91,885 | 133% |
| 14 | Delaware | 2,300 | 5.1% | $99,067 | 132% |
| 15 | Oregon | 2,959 | 6.3% | $90,639 | 110% |
And:
| Rank | State | Tech Universities | Average Download Speed (Mbps) | Broadband Coverage | Tech Business Establishments per 100,000 People | Score |
| 1 | Massachusetts | 2 | 188 | 96% | 216 | 8.50 |
| 2 | Colorado | 2 | 169 | 86% | 277 | 8.42 |
| 3 | Virginia | 1 | 193 | 83% | 235 | 8.37 |
| 4 | New Jersey | 2 | 174 | 98% | 149 | 8.16 |
| 5 | Washington | 0 | 149 | 95% | 194 | 7.86 |
| 6 | Maryland | 0 | 196 | 95% | 206 | 7.73 |
| 7 | California | 5 | 93 | 94% | 136 | 7.71 |
| 8 | New Hampshire | 0 | 144 | 90% | 348 | 7.09 |
| 9 | New York | 5 | 191 | 97% | 121 | 7.07 |
| 10 | Illinois | 1 | 171 | 89% | 160 | 6.94 |
| 11 | Georgia | 1 | 151 | 85% | 150 | 6.86 |
| 12 | Utah | 1 | 128 | 88% | 223 | 6.84 |
| 13 | Texas | 1 | 164 | 85% | 131 | 6.71 |
| 14 | Delaware | 0 | 140 | 95% | 271 | 6.61 |
| 15 | Oregon | 1 | 123 | 85% | 169 | 6.53 |
From the above analysis, the overall tech capital of the U.S is revealed to be Massachusetts. The outcome is an overall tech score of 8.5 out of 10. Other than its Internet speed, Massachusetts ranks highly in all categories and is in the top five for five of the eight categories.
Another interesting statistic is with the state with the highest percentage of workforce in the technology industry, which is Washington. Here, 9.4 percent of their workforce employed in the technology sector. Washington has over 330,000 people spread across 15,000 technology-related businesses. The median salary here is also the highest in the US, at $124,000 a year. Also with employment figures, the state with the most people employed in the tech industry is Massachusetts. This state has just over 4,300 employees in the tech industry per 100,000 people. Furthermore, Massachusetts has just under 308,000 people employed in the tech industry, which makes up 8.6 percent of the working population, the third highest in the U.S.