Providence, RI — Providence ranks #6 on CBRE’s list of up-and-coming North American tech-talent markets in the annual Scoring Tech Talent report, which ranks 75 U.S. and Canadian markets according to their ability to attract and grow tech talent.
Providence posted a 17.2 percent increase in software developer wages over the past five years. The report identifies emerging tech hubs in most regions of North America, from Huntsville in the Southeast to Albany in the Northeast to Tucson in the West. Canada landed three cities on the list.“Known as an epicenter of higher education, with eight top college and university campuses located in the city, Providence represents real potential for growth in the technology sector,” said Alden Anderson, senior vice president, CBRE. “In addition, overall tech wages have climbed 10 percent during the past five years, keeping Providence attractive to both tech talent and tech employers.”Providence also stood out in the report in other key areas:· Providence’s total tech employment of 18,380 ranks sixth out of the 25 markets.· The city’s average tech wage of $101,385 is third highest among the emerging markets.· The average software developer’s wage is Providence is $105,192, up 17.2 percent since 2016.· Providence generated 734 tech talent graduates in 2020.These up-and-coming markets are separate from the 50 larger tech markets that CBRE’s report ranks in its Tech Talent Scorecard. In contrast, the ‘next 25’ markets are ranked by a narrower set of criteria than the top 50, including tech talent supply, wages, tech talent concentration, recent tech talent growth rates and their outlook.Nationally, tech talent job growth of roughly 2.5 percent in 2021 matched the rate of non-tech job growth. In 2020, tech talent job growth outpaced overall job growth by a large margin. The tech industry’s impact on U.S. office leasing also dipped and recovered, going from 21 percent in 2019 to 17 percent in 2020 and back to 21 percent last year.The leaderboard of the ‘next 25’ markets is filled with markets that posted double-digit growth in tech jobs since 2016.
