Q2 Talent Corner: Northern Virginia Jumps In Tech Rankings

August 14, 2020 | By Conor Courtney

The Northern Virginia tech market continues piling up national recognition in the wake of CBRE's recent release of the 2020 Scoring Tech Talent report, which ranked the D.C.-area as the second best market for tech talent in North America, trailing only the San Francisco Bay Area. The runner-up position represents a jump from fourth place in the 2019 report, as the region passed Seattle and Toronto in the rankings.

Of the various metrics CBRE used to evaluate markets, the D.C.-area has the second-highest tech talent concentration at 8.3%, which is the share of tech talent compared to total employment. This sizable concentration of highly-skilled workers is critical to offering an environment conducive to innovation.

The region's significant tech talent concentration is attributable to it's highly educated workforce, innovative higher-educational institutions, and competitive pay. The D.C.-area saw a 34% growth in number of tech degree graduates from 2013-2018, and ranks second in the nation with over 12,000 tech degree completions during that timeframe.

CBRE 2020 Scoring Tech Talent Rankings

1) San Francisco Bay Area: 82.56
2) Washington, D.C.: 67.39
3) Seattle: 66.36
4) Toronto: 64.34
5) New York: 64.01