San Diego ranks 16th among 50 U.S. and Canadian cities for its ability to attract and grow technology industry talent, according to the latest annual report by the commercial brokerage firm CBRE Group Inc.
A statement from Los Angeles-based CBRE, which has regional operations in San Diego, said the local market’s tech talent pool has grown 47.2 percent over the past five years, and its millennial population – essentially workers age 20 to 34 -- has grown 13.9 percent. San Diego had the third-largest millennial growth rate among major tech markets, after Washington, D.C. and the San Francisco Bay Area.
“Tech talent growth, primarily within the high-tech industry, has recently been the top driver of office leasing activity in the U.S.,” said CBRE researcher Colin Yasukochi, who authored the report.
CBRE’s annual Tech Talent Scorecard is based on 13 metrics, including the supply of qualified workers, concentration and growth prospects for tech jobs, the proportion of workers with technology degrees, and rent costs for offices and apartments.
The top three markets in this year’s ranking were the San Francisco Bay Area, Washington, D.C., and Seattle, with New York City and Austin, Texas rounding out the top five. The highest-ranking Southern California market was Orange County, placing at No. 14.
Additional stories from the San Diego Business Journal are available here. Sign up for their free daily email newsletter.
