Like in many areas across the country, tech workers in Philadelphia and across the tri-state area are earning a much higher wage than their non-tech counterparts.
That's the takeaway from a new deep dive into tech salaries by tech trade association CompTIA, which found the median annual tech wage of $100,615 is 103% higher than, or more than double, the median national wage. In the Philadelphia metro area, the estimated median tech wage is $96,374 — 105% higher than the median wage in the region, according to the report.
The data is from 2021, which is the most recent available, but the hot talent market of the past two years likely took the median significantly higher — with tech industry workers seeing some of the most substantial salary gains, according to recruiters.
On the state level, New Jersey and Delaware both rank among the top 10 for tech pay: New Jersey at No. 4 with a median just above $113,000 annually and Delaware at No. 10 at just over $103,000. Pennsylvania's median tech wage was some $86,000, ranking No. 22 in the country.
However, the Keystone State saw substantial job growth in tech, adding close to 10,000 jobs from 2021 to 2022, the eighth-most nationally. It also added the sixth-most new tech firms with 1,551.
Zooming into the Philadelphia region, the tech industry accounts for an economic impact of $35.5 billion, CompTIA estimates. That puts it just ahead of Denver, where the tech industry's economic impact is $34.9 billion, and other major metros like Portland, San Diego and Phoenix. Philadelphia's median tech wage of slightly below $100,000 also puts it just ahead of cities like Chicago, Austin and Phoenix.
But there are signs some of the gains made nationally in tech are slowing.
The tech landscape has continued to evolve this year, with challenging conditions pushing layoffs across the sector.
And some companies, like Microsoft Corp., are pausing salary hikes this year. Microsoft also said performance bonuses for executives will be down considerably compared to the year before.
Meanwhile, experts have told The Playbook many companies are dialing back on the aggressive raises of the past two years — although they've noted workers with specific, in-demand skills are often an exception, depending on the market.
Top states for tech salaries
Tech workers in Washington state have the highest median wage in the country at nearly $130,000, according to CompTIA's data.
Wages in the Pacific Northwest state outpaced median pay in Washington, D.C., California, New Jersey and Massachusetts, the next four highest for tech wages.
The lowest paying states for tech workers are South Dakota, Mississippi, Wyoming, Louisiana and West Virginia, which all have a median tech wage less than $70,000.
Those wages are, however, significantly more than each state's median wage for all workers. In Mississippi, the $66,901 tech wage is more than 100% higher than the state's overall median wage.
Top cities for tech
At a time when the tech sector is in flux, CompTIA's analysis also shows which cities could be most vulnerable to the industry's challenges.
Specifically, the data showed the cities where tech represents the largest portions of the local economy.
Not surprisingly, San Jose and San Francisco are in the top three, along with Seattle, home to tech giants like Amazon and Microsoft.
Here are the top 10 cities where tech represents the largest portion of the local economy, according to CompTIA.
1. San Jose, California 57.1%
2. Seattle, Washington 28.9%
3. San Francisco, California 26.8%
4. Austin, Texas 23.8%
5. Raleigh, North Carolina 16.5%
6. Boston, Massachusetts 14.6%
7. Portland, Oregon 14.4%
8. Denver, Colorado 13.1%
9. Washington, D.C. 12.9%
10. Atlanta, Georgia 12.1%
In Philadelphia, tech represents 7.6% of the local economy.
As we've noted, emerging hubs are cutting into the dominance of longtime tech centers like Silicon Valley — and it shows in both salary trends and deal flow.
Phoenix (26% increase) and Tampa (19% increase) led the way for tech salary growth in a recent analysis by Dice, while Denver was one of the few exceptions to a dip in VC activity.
In fact, the Bay Area's share of overall U.S. venture capital deals has fallen below 20% for three consecutive quarters — the lowest VC data firm PitchBook has ever recorded.
After tallying roughly 25% of all VC deals in 2014, the Bay Area's share of deals was just 18% last quarter.
