Louisville is among the 25 underdeveloped markets for tech talent that could offer additional talent pools to employers looking to expand their reach, according to CBRE’s annual Scoring Tech Talent report.
The 25 smaller metros, concentrated mostly in the Midwest and Southeast, were scored on tech employment, wage growth and number of tech degrees. Louisville came in at No. 18 this year.
According to the report, Louisville employed a total of 16,960 tech workers in 2021. The average wage was $83,329, representing a 12% growth over five years.
Software developers' wages increased by nearly 14% in that period as well, with the average wage for that position at $86,842 in 2021. Those figures are slightly lower than Louisville's performance in CBRE's 2021 report.
Louisville had roughly 100 graduates that earned tech degrees in 2020, which is far lower than all of the other metros on the list.
And while Louisville was on par with most other cities in terms of employment, it's not growing as fast as some of the other top emerging markets. Our total five-year tech growth was 9%, while others such as Stamford, Connecticut (No. 8) and Des Moines, Iowa (No. 14) are recording double-digit growth.
The top five emerging markets on the "Next 25" ranking were: Huntsville, Alabama (No. 1); Dayton, Ohio (No. 2); Colorado Springs, Colorado (No. 3); Omaha, Nebraska (No. 4); and Albany, New York (No. 5).
Check out the full report here.
