D-FW is a Top Market For New Tech Jobs and Related Real Estate Demand
Dallas-Fort Worth beats both Boston and Seattle for the number of tech sector workers.
Commercial real estate firm CBRE ranked San Francisco and New York as the country's largest tech employment hubs in its latest look at jobs and growth. It ranked the D-FW area fifth nationally.
Almost 170,000 people in North Texas worked in tech jobs in D-FW in 2018 — up nearly 16% since 2013.
"The trend of corporate relocations to the Dallas-Fort Worth area isn't slowing down," Clay Vaughn, senior vice president of CBRE's Tech & Media Practice in Dallas, said in a statement. "The favorable business climate and available tech talent in Dallas has made it one of the top startup markets in the U.S., which further incentivizes companies to move to the area. "It's been a very positive cycle, and we see that continuing as the tech industry continues to grow."
CBRE estimates that the D-FW area's tech sector employment grew by more than 22,000 people last year. Tech tenants have been one of the fastest-growing segments of the North Texas office market.
Some of the biggest recent office leases in the area were to tech-related companies, including Nokia, Samsung, HD Vest, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Salesforce. "When you look at some of the tech companies that have grown here in Dallas, they have been taking significant office space in the market," Vaughn said. "The reason those folks are looking so hard at Dallas is the availability of talent at a very good wage, affordability of housing and a good quality of life."
D-FW had the largest increase of any U.S. market in its 20-something population, which has grown 14.7% since 2012. Young workers are moving here to fill more than 100,000 new jobs created annually. The area was rated as one of the most competitive markets for tech workers, according to CBRE. Both office costs and apartment rents are lower than other top tech-centric locations. CBRE estimates that average tech industry wages in North Texas were just over $98,000 a year in 2018 — almost 30% below the average wage in the San Francisco Bay area.
The D-FW area ranked 11th nationally on CBRE's annual tech talent scorecard, which factors in everything from tech talent supply, growth, concentration, cost, completed tech degrees, industry outlook for job growth and market outlook for both office and apartment rent cost growth. The study looked at 50 North American markets. D-FW was also one of the top markets in the country for awarding new tech sector college degrees.
"Dallas has solidified its place in the country as a top five tech labor market," said Jeff Eiting, first vice president of CBRE's Tech & Media Practice in Dallas. "It's very exciting to see that when you peel back the layers of the onion, the amount of tech degrees in D-FW has almost doubled since 2012, so as a region, we're keeping up with producing the necessary tech talent...
