A leading IT trade organization just named Austin the best tech city in the United States for the second year in a row.
On Thursday, CompTIA released its annual “Tech Town Index” report, which again found that Austin’s relatively low cost of living and number of present and projected open IT roles made it the place to be for the tech industry. From August of 2019 to July of 2020, report authors crunched job posting data from 20 metropolitan areas — all with populations greater than 250,000 — to determine Austin is the best place for tech professionals in 2020.
“Home to 5,500 startups and tech companies, Austin has become a favorable alternative to the Bay Area and New York City for companies of all sizes that are looking to grow,” report authors wrote.
These 5 Companies Are ‘Aggressively Hiring’ IT Professionals in Austin
- IBM
- Dell
- The Home Depot
- Deloitte
- Charles Schwab
Over the past two years, CompTIA found that more than 100 tech companies have relocated to the Austin area, adding more than 4,600 jobs to the region. Authors credited much of the growth to companies looking to grow outside of the Bay Area, which was ranked seventh in CompTIA’s report, and New York City, which did not make the list. CompTIA noted that Google, Facebook, Atlassian and Oracle all have thousands of workers in the city, and that Apple’s move to North Austin has the potential to add another 15,000 workers to its existing local headcount of 7,000.
The Chicago-area trade organization expects this trend to continue — over the next five years, report authors estimated that IT job growth in Austin will grow by 16 percent.
While the number of job opportunities may be high, CompTIA also found that the cost of living in Austin is comparatively low. The city ranked as the fourth most affordable market among the 20 metros listed, with its cost of living coming in at 4 percent below the national average.
This analysis echoes findings from a recent Hired.com report, which found that Austin tech workers’ cash went the farthest in the U.S., buying more groceries, a larger apartment and a nicer car than the other geographies surveyed. Hired.com’s annual “2020 State of Salaries” analysis also said that Austin IT professionals’ paychecks were the fastest growing in the nation, up 10 percent year over year to an average of $137,000.
“With major tech players and startups alike calling Austin home, along with great schools, a thriving nightlife and an active, outdoor lifestyle, it’s no surprise that the city has been named the fastest-growing major metro area in the U.S. — and is the reigning No.1 Tech Town,” CompTIA authors wrote.
Rounding out the top three in the annual ranking were another Texas city — Dallas — followed by Raleigh. San Jose and Charlotte, North Carolina, placed fourth and fifth.
