Cincinnati ranks near the bottom of the list in the latest annual analysis of strongest markets for tech talent in North America, coming in at No. 43 out of 50.
That is one of many takeaways from the newly issued Scoring Tech Talent assessment from global commercial real estate company CBRE Group Inc. (NYSE: CBRE). The benchmark analysis examines the top 50 markets in North America based on 13 metrics impacting their ability to attract and educate tech talent.
Some of those factors include tech degrees issued locally, concentration of tech jobs, size of the labor pool, wages and real estate costs. The factors are weighted by their "relative importance to job creation and innovation," CBRE's report says. "Tech talent concentration metrics have the highest weights because they signify clustering of tech workers."
Cincinnati's overall ranking is down one spot from last year. The Queen City ranks 12 spots below Columbus, which ranked No. 31 on the list, and was narrowly beat out by Cleveland, which finished in the No. 41 spot. Dayton, meanwhile, was not included within the top 50 but did appear on the list of 25 smaller markets with strong potential energy to grow.
The top five markets remain unchanged from 2021: the San Francisco Bay Area; Seattle, Toronto, Washington, D.C., and New York City. Austin moved up one slot, to No. 6.
Here are some Cincinnati highlights:
- Tech jobs account for 3.8% of Cincinnati's total jobs. That concentration is among the ten smallest of the 50 markets, and 1.8 percentage points below the average.
- Cincinnati's tech workforce grew 4.9% from 2016 to 2021. That places it among the middle of the pack for the 19 metros CBRE classifies as small tech talent markets, meaning cities where there are fewer than 50,000 tech workers.
- The average tech salary is $88,088. That's 86% the U.S. average.
- Cincinnati ranks among the least diverse for tech degree graduates, joining Madison, Wis.; Columbus; Detroit; and Raleigh, N.C.
For the full report, click here.
