As businesses reemerge from the pandemic, many are looking at new HQ locations or moving to hybrid work models, which means workers in the tech industry are moving around the country. A new report highlights why DFW may be high on a lot of people’s list of places to move.
Coding Dojo, a Washington-based coding boot camp, released its third annual ranking of the most affordable tech cities to start a coding career in the U.S. The report used data from the U.S. Census Bureau, along with data from sites like ApartmentList.com and Indeed.com and gave Dallas the top spot overall this year.
“What we find interesting in this report is that each year we release this report, the reasons the research is most relevant change,” said Richard Wang, Coding Dojo CEO, via email. “In its first year, it was simply the continued growth of tech hiring across the country. This year, the changing nature of the way we work and return to pre-pandemic hiring levels inspired an early update to the report.”
Coding Dojo made the report based on population estimates, median rent and the number of entry- and mid-level development job openings within a 25-mile radius of a city.
According to the report, Dallas’ population has grown at a rate of more than 12 percent in the last ten years. It also noted that Dallas ranked No. 6 for total development jobs, a total of 1,410 available. The city came in the No. 11 spot in the housing rank category, with a median rent of nearly $1,300.
“We see careers in tech as the ultimate path forward for the many workers that, either by force or choice, are looking for new jobs as the economy reopens and bounces back,” Wang said.
Columbus, Oh. was listed as the most affordable, with a median rent of $993, and Washington, D.C. took the No.1 spot for most development jobs. In the overall ranking, Leander, Tx., a suburb of Austin was ranked No. 2, putting it 10 spots above the Capitol city. Atlanta came in at No. 3, followed by Philadelphia and Phoenix.
The only other Texas city to crack the top 10 on the list was Houston, which came in at No. 6. Fort Worth was ranked No. 17. The report took a look at only the top 50 cities in the country. Frisco came in the No. 19 spot, while McKinney took No. 28. Other Lone Star state cities making the list – both suburbs of Houston – were Sugar Land (No. 37) and Conroe (No. 40).
“The prominence of cities in Texas, and more generally, the South stood out to our team,” Wang said. “Places like Austin and Atlanta have long been discussed as new tech hubs. To see Dallas lead the list and be joined by Houston and Leander showed the growing breadth of tech hiring across Texas and the South.”
