Charlotte has ranked 27th in CBRE's report on tech talent job growth for the second year in a row.
The 10th annual report ranks the top 50 markets in the U.S. and Canada using 13 metrics that evaluate cities' competitive advantages and appeal to both employers and tech talent. The Queen City has seen steady growth over the last several years, ranking 27th in 2021, 28th in 2020 and 30th in 2019.
CBRE Senior Vice President Joe Franco said the report has been an important indicator of growth over the last 10 years, especially in a city like Charlotte where industry diversification through the tech space has impacted job growth, as well as commercial real estate development.
"Because technology and tech-related industries are becoming such an important part of our economy, the need to track that closely, peeling apart the onion of this particular industry type is important," he said. "We can feel the difference from a local market perspective."
The city's tech labor had the eighth-largest gain across North American tech markets, with 22% growth between 2016 and 2021, the report showed. The highest increase in demographics was the millennial population, ages 25 to 39, at 13.9% between 2015 and 2020. The number of Gen Z tech employees, ages 20 to 24, increased 4.4% over the same time frame.
Charlotte stood out in the report in several other key areas:
- Between 2017 and 2021, 11,100 tech jobs were created, compared to 8,048 tech graduates between 2016 to 2020, underscoring that tech job opportunities are drawing people into the metro.
- The average annual office asking rent is the 14th-most expensive at $32.27 per square foot, per year.
- The average monthly apartment rent is the 24th-most expensive at $1,430.
- The rent-to-tech wage ratio ranked 29th at 17.4%.
- In the last five years, tech talent wages have risen 7.2% to an average $98,875 across all tech occupations.
Franco said the steady influx of tech talent and technology companies has shifted how developers view office space within the city.
"Developers are certainly more bullish on Charlotte because of this diversification," he said. "They don’t just assume their future office building will be filled with the financial industry, alone."
Franco added, "Many years ago, when finance really dominated the Charlotte economy, it was hard for developers to come into our market if there wasn’t a bank that needed to be built."
Tech companies, Franco said, tend to gravitate toward Class A products, most often new construction or adaptive-reuse creative office space. The increase in creativity in the way these projects are designed has begun to bleed into other industries, too.
"You’re starting to see more eclectic textures and colors and materials being used. It’s not just carpet on the ground and paint on the walls," he said. "The tech world has brought to the forefront that cool space is important, and industries that are slightly more conservative are taking note of that and adjusting their footprints and aesthetics and overall vibe of their spaces accordingly."
