Seattle Takes Second Spot for Best Tech City in the US
A recent Geekwire feature heeds warning to San Francisco, as a report by CBRE reveals that Seattle is “now one of the top two tech markets in the nation . . . thanks to booming homegrown companies and a vast roster of out-of-town companies setting up shop here to recruit the city’s highly educated talent base.” Measuring factors such as “tech employees, population trends, wages, education levels, housing and business costs,” the Emerald City came out second behind only the Bay Area, moving up from a third-place position in 2016.
Seattle is the most educated market in CBRE’s study, as 62% of residents over 25 possess at least a bachelor’s degree. The area has also seen significant job growth in the tech sector, with a “33 percent increase since 2011.” Tech industry workers make an average of just over $113K in Seattle, while other jobs such as finance, sales and marketing are closer to the national average at nearly $60K. Big jobs and money in the Evergreen state are contributing to a rising cost of living, with a 37% increase in rent in the last 5 years, yet the area is still relatively affordable when compared to West Coast peer markets such as San Francisco, Los Angeles and Vancouver, B.C. According to Zillow, the median home value in San Francisco is nearly $1.2 million versus $638,100 in Seattle.
Though the Silicon Forest is drawing millennials to the area seeking tech jobs, they represent just 16% of the population increase since 2010, trailing behind “those in their 60s, with a 28.1 percent rise in that group.”