Silicon Valley Surpassed In Survey Of Thriving Tech Environments

SILICON VALLEY, CA — Silicon Valley may still be the center of the tech world, but it is increasingly becoming far from the only place in the country where tech careers and companies look to thrive.

According to a recent survey by Blind, a professional network of over 4 million people that conducts anonymous surveys on the tech industry, Austin surpassed the Bay Area when professionals were asked about cities that fostered “an environment of helping technology careers/companies to thrive.”

The data presented didn’t include how many tech workers were surveyed. But 92 percent of workers in Austin answered affirmatively as to whether the city supported a thriving tech environment, compared to 85 percent of workers surveyed in the Bay Area. Silicon Valley was tied with Seattle, which also had an 85 percent mark. New York City came in third at 83 percent.

According to Bloomberg, more people moved to Austin over the past year from the Bay Area than from any other region outside Texas. Many tech companies based in Silicon Valley, like Apple and Facebook, have maintained and expanded their presence in Austin, and last year, Redwood City-based Oracle made a big splash in moving its headquarters to the Texas city.

Never miss a beat of Silicon Valley news! Sign up for Patch alerts and our free a daily newsletter here.

However, Silicon Valley tech workers maintained an overall positive outlook on their environment. The Bay Area edged Seattle and Austin to come in first for tech opportunities in the respective cities. Seventy percent of tech workers surveyed in the Bay Area said they had met other like-minded professionals in the region that they had networked with.