So Long, Silicon Valley: The Best Cities For Tech Jobs In 2017

Countless programmers, coders, and engineers with a dream have flocked to Silicon Valley in hopes of making bank and putting down roots—but is the San Francisco Bay Area still the right place to go? Not necessarily, according to job search site Indeed.

To home in on these alternate tech hubs, Indeed's researchers mined job listings within the 51 largest metros in the U.S. They looked at the proportion of tech job listings for each local area, and in this case, San Jose, CA—the heart of Silicon Valley—still reigns supreme, with 19% of its local job postings in tech.

But researchers also looked at each city's share of tech job postings nationwide—how big a piece of the tech pie they have overall—and whether that slice is growing or shrinking. Viewed this way, San Jose's status seems to be sinking, since its share of the nation's tech jobs dropped nearly 6% from the first half of 2016 to 2017.

Brain drain, anyone? So where are all these primo jobs going?

Surprisingly, the second-highest number of tech jobs can be found in Washington, DC, where 17% of local job listings are in tech. Next up? Baltimore, with 13% of local listings for tech. In the past year, both of these cities' shares in the number of tech jobs nationwide have crept up—Washington's by 4.5%, Baltimore's by 3.4%.

So if you want to be the next Jeff Bezos, should you abandon the West Coast? Well, we don't want to jump to conclusions, but Bezos, who spends most of his time in Seattle, where Amazon.com is based, bought the biggest house in Washington, DC, in January. Yes, it happens to be where his other high-profile asset, the Washington Post, is headquartered. But could it also be a sign that Silicon Valley's best and brightest are putting down more stakes east?

The best cities for tech jobs, explained

One possible reason Silicon Valley jobs are moving to the DC area could be the fact that these workers crave not only money, but also influence over political tides.

"It's about power," says Washington, DC, real estate agent Christopher Itteilag. "Tech is the future of our country—it's important for people in that sector to be close to the policymakers to ensure everyone is on the same page and our country and economy can move forward as seamlessly as possible, hand in hand embracing new technology."

Meanwhile, nearby Baltimore, rife with tech gigs centering on military and governmental contractors, is within easy commuting distance.

"Baltimore’s economy over the last few decades has been dominated by the 'eds, meds, and feds'—education, medicine, and government-related jobs," says Brian Davis, director of education at SparkRental. "It's paved the way for this city to be uniquely positioned for tech jobs."

Another advantage of Baltimore is its affordability.

"Baltimore has a much lower cost of living, particularly in housing, than most cities of its size," Davis adds. Granted, "with so many of the tech jobs tied to the public sector, the pay tends to be lower. But these public-sector jobs come with excellent benefits."

The fastest-growing tech hub

And don't let the East Coast home-buying activities of Mr. Bezos, fool you. Seattle continues to grow as a tech hub, gaining the most ground—11%—in its share of tech jobs nationally.

But Indeed also found some smaller, emerging tech centers with a similar job mix as Silicon Valley, including Boulder, CO; San Diego; and Provo-Orem, UT.

According to study author Jed Kolko, "They are among Silicon Valley’s closest cousins, offering opportunities for tech workers looking for a change of pace from the big hubs and for companies that want to locate in hot tech markets."

In other words, if you're longing to flee Silicon Valley for less crowded pastures, there are plenty of places you can go. Below is a list of the top eight tech towns based on the proportion of local job listings in tech.

1. San Jose, CA: 19%
2. Washington, DC: 17%
3. Baltimore, MD: 13%
4. Seattle, WA: 12.5%
5. Raleigh, NC: 11%
6. San Francisco, CA: 11%
7. Austin, TX: 10%
8. Boston, MA: 9%

Written by Judy Dutton

This article, "So Long, Silicon Valley: The Best Cities for Tech Jobs in 2017" appeared first on Real Estate News and Insights from realtor.com.

Image credit: Redd Angelo via Unsplash

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