As the Valley grows into one of the nation’s most robust tech hubs, one of its cities has been ranked among the best places for women working in the field.
Chandler came in at No. 5 in the nation as a place offering opportunities for women working in tech, jumping up 11 spots from last year’s ranking and coming in well ahead of cities in the tech epicenter of the Bay Area, where San Francisco ranked No. 23 and San Jose and Oakland tied for No. 27.
Phoenix came in at No. 29 out of the 59 U.S. cities ranked by SmartAsset, and Tucson was the only other Arizona city to land on the list, at No. 48.
SmartAsset based its ranking according to four metrics derived from data in the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 5-year American Community Survey: gender pay gap in the tech industry, income for women in tech after deducting for housing costs, women as a percentage of tech workers and three-year growth in tech employment. The first three metrics had double weight.
Leading cities in the survey ahead of Chandler were Arlington, Virginia; Washington, D.C., Houston and Baltimore.
In Chandler 26.08% of employees in the tech industry are women — just under the national average of 26.14%. In Phoenix, that figure was below the national average at 25.07% and in Tucson it was 23.38%.
Nationwide, one key finding in the report was that representation in the tech workforce has not improved since a year ago, with women making up about a fourth of the tech workforce for several years.
"Depending on the city ... some women fare better than others and represent a larger portion of the tech workforce," Smart Asset said, explaining its rankings.
Phoenix tops tech job growth rate
The highest percentage of women tech workers was found in Detroit, with 41.7%, and the lowest percentage was in Irvine, California, where the rate was 18.9%.
Chandler was especially boosted by its gender pay gap, with female tech industry workers there earning an average of 93.51% of what their male counterparts make. That’s higher than the bulk of cities on the list and higher than the national average of 83.56% — and it’s a healthy jump from Chandler’s 2021 rate of 85%, SmartAsset noted.
In Phoenix and Tucson, the gender pay gap was also above the national average at 85.27% and 84.82%, respectively.
However, only in Chandler was the average income after housing costs higher than the national average. Women there averaged $67,369 after housing expenses were deducted, while in Phoenix the amount was $52.923 and in Tucson it was $42,473.
Among the Arizona cities, Phoenix had the highest three-year rate of employment growth in the tech industry from 2017-2020, with its 31.66% rate higher than all but eight cities on the list. Tucson’s growth rate was 26.56%.
Chandler’s rate, by contrast was 18.89%, which was just a bit above the 16.96% national rate.
Nationally, Salt Lake City had the biggest three-year tech industry employment growth at 62%, but women have been left behind in the boom in that city, making up less than 20% of the workforce and making only 74 cents for every dollar earned by men, the report showed.
