Blog Post

Closing the Tech Talent Gap: 5 Cities Where Techies are Flocking

Cornerstone Editors

Top tech talent is pretty picky when it comes to work. But with such high demand for software engineers across the country, the world truly is their oyster.

According to a recent report from The Conference Board, talent in the technology sector remains in low supply as demand continues to skyrocket. As of January 2015, the report counted nearly 600,000 advertised job openings in computer and mathematical science in the U.S., but only 100,000 job seekers in the field. That's about five jobs for every one qualified professional.

These qualified professionals aren't just looking for a well-paying job and all of the general perks, either — they're also making their decision based on a company's location. Job site Indeed analyzed data on millions of software job listings and searches, finding that location is perhaps the best perk you could offer tech talent.

While foundational cities like San Francisco and San Jose might be the first to come to mind when you think "engineer," other cities are quickly becoming the new hotspots for tech talent. Here are five cities that, according to Indeed's report, made the most headway in attracting new techies and closing the talent gap from 2013 to 2015:

1. Los Angeles, California

Decrease in tech talent gap from 2013 to 2015: 51%

Population: 3.8 million

Average salary for software engineer: $84,504

Average rent for one-bedroom apartment: $1,617

Most popular programming language: PHP

Notable tech companies: Cornerstone, IBM, SpaceX, Ticketmaster

2. Denver, Colorado

Decrease in tech talent gap from 2013 to 2015: 49%

Population: 649,495

Average salary for software engineer: $79,901

Average rent for one-bedroom apartment: $1,519

Notable tech companies: HomeAdvisor, MapQuest, TeleTech, ViaWest

3. Minneapolis, Minnesota

Decrease in tech talent gap from 2013 to 2015: 45%

Population: 400,070

Average salary for software engineer: $75,182

Average rent for one-bedroom apartment: $1,030

Notable tech companies: Accenture, Concur, Ecolab, Magenic

4. Seattle, Washington

Decrease in tech talent gap from 2013 to 2015: 45%

Population: 652,405

Average salary for software engineer: $97,343

Average rent for one-bedroom apartment: $1,661/month

Notable tech companies: Amazon, Expedia, Microsoft, Zillow

5. Austin, Texas

Decrease in tech talent gap from 2013 to 2015: 44%

Population: 885,400

Average salary for software engineer: $77,123

Average rent for one bedroom apartment: $1,479/month

Notable tech companies: Blackbaud, Dell, Luminex, WP Engine

Sources: Populations from US Census Bureau; average salaries from PayScale; average rents from Numbeo; talent gap decreases and top programming languages from Indeed report

Images: Shutterstock

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