Greater Nashville has gained more than 10,000 technology workers in the last five years, boasting one of the fastest growth rates in the country.
That's according to the latest Scoring Tech Talent analysis from global commercial real estate company CBRE Group Inc. (NYSE: CBRE). The annual report is one of the more thorough scorecards on the tech talent that almost every employer in every city is fighting to attract. CBRE sizes up 50 markets in the U.S. and Canada by examining 13 metrics and more than 20 types of technology jobs.
The top-line takeaway is that Nashville scooted up to No. 38 in the latest rankings, a gain of three places from last year and seven slots compared to its position in 2019.
Nashville ranks just behind Houston and Columbus, Ohio, and just ahead of Edmonton, Indianapolis and Sacramento. The top-six strongest markets remained unchanged from last year's analysis, including Austin at No. 6.
The Nashville metro area posted several impressive signs of growth, as noted below. But the region again showed one of the ten smallest concentrations of tech talent, or the share of tech jobs in the overall economy. Nashville's 3.8% figure in 2022 was nearly two percentage points below the average among the 50 markets.
"Each metric is weighted by its relative importance to job creation and innovation," CBRE says in its report. "Tech talent concentration metrics have the highest weights because they signify clustering of tech workers. Tech talent concentration … is an influential factor in how 'tech' the market is and in its growth potential."
Here are some Nashville numbers to know:
$95,490: The average annual pay for a Nashville tech worker. That benchmark that has risen 24% in five years, the fifth-fastest increase of any of the 50 markets in the study.
39,180: Tech workers in Nashville. The region's gain of 10,340 workers in five years was the most among the 18 "small tech talent markets" within the 50-city study.
35.9%: Five-year growth in tech workers. Just four U.S. markets grew faster.
1-of-13: Nashville was one of 13 markets overall with more tech jobs added than local tech graduates, a sign that the region continues to import talent.
1: Among the 18 small markets, Nashville posted the largest jump in college-educated residents in their 20s (28.1%) and third-largest increase in college-educated residents in their 30s (31.1%).
3: Nashville is the third-cheapest place in the U.S. for a tech company to operate, based on wages and office rents.
20.6%: Nashville tied for the 12th most expensive place to live among the 50 markets in the study, with average apartment rents equaling 20.6% of the average tech-worker wage.
For the full report, click here.
