Buffalo has plenty of growth-stage technology companies, which is a big change from a few years ago.
But it’s a long way from the big leagues.
That much is clear from the latest annual analysis of the tech industry from CBRE Group Inc., released this week.
Buffalo moved up from 20th last year to 17th this year in the “Next 25” section of the report, which primarily exists to spotlight the top 50 tech markets in North America. The region’s total tech employment as of 2020 was 13,990, which slots the region well behind same-state cities such as Albany (18,840 tech jobs) and Rochester (20,840) and other small metros like Dayton (18,930), Omaha (22,600) and Des Moines (18,320).
Rochester was the only western or central New York city to be listed among the top 50 markets, coming in 47th, just behind Jacksonville and ahead of Virginia Beach.
Buffalo's profile in the report supports the idea of a low-cost, highly-educated workforce that helped attract companies like Odoo and AML RightSource to the region. Tech wages here now average $83,990, despite growing 19% over the past five years, and software developers make an average of $85,528. Both of those figures are on the low end of those listed in the report.
A total of 1,867 college students in Buffalo graduated with a technology degree in 2019, the third highest among all Next 25 cities.
Tech wages in Buffalo have grown 19% over the past five years, the highest of all the Next 25 markets, according to the report. Tech wages now average $83,990. Software developers make an average of $85,528 in Buffalo, which is up 9.9% from five years, according to the report.
Check out the full report here.
