Community Corner
Boulder Makes Nationwide "Top 20 Tech Towns" List
New rankings are based on availability of jobs, expected growth, and cost of living.
BOULDER, CO -- Boulder is one of three communities representing Colorado on the new "America's Top 20 Tech Towns" list, according to analysis by national technology industry association CompTIA. “As technology permeates every corner of our personal and professional lives, employment opportunities are expanding across the nation and fueling job growth in regions not traditionally thought of as tech hubs,” said Nancy Hammervik, CompTIA's executive vice president for industry relations in a statement.
Boulder is one of several college towns to make the list, which was developed to help tech industry professionals make choices about where to live and work. “The geographic diversity of the index is something we’re very excited to see and demonstrates the positive impact the technology industry is having on regional economies,” said Hammervik.
A strong tech sector can bring well paying jobs and wealth into a community. According to CompTIA's statistics, the average annual industry wage is $112,890 – 107 percent higher than the $54,420 average across all sectors.
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According to CompTIA, the median wage for a Boulder tech job is $88,899 and the number of industry jobs is expected to increase 5 percent over the next 5 years. The rankings did note, however, that the cost of living in Boulder is 15.3 percent higher than the national average.
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Tech Town Index rankings are based on the number of industry job postings in an area over a 12-month period, the cost of living, the number of open tech positions, and the projected job growth over the next five years. This was the first year for the rankings, but CompTIA plans to continue to release them annually in the future.
The other Colorado communities making the list were the Denver-Lakewood-Aurora area at 8th, and Colorado Springs at 20th.
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Image courtesy CompTIA
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