RALEIGH – High-tech jobs keep growing in Raleigh, salaries average nearly $94,000 and the cost of living locally is 4% less than the national leverage: Add those facts together and the end result in North Carolina’s capital ranks as the No. 3 “Tech Town” in the US.

So says tech trade group CompTIA in its annual survey.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Raleigh remains a hot spot for tech-relaced jobs with more than 44,000 postings between August 2019 and July 2020, the study says.

In a bit of bad news, however, Raleigh dropped one spot from a year ago with Dallas-Fort Worth climbing to second from seventh in 2019.

And Raleigh’s tech rival – Austin, Texas – topped the list for the second straight time.

Not that Raleigh had a bad year.

“They had a big year in jobs added and new jobs advertised,” a CompTIA spokesperson said about the Dallas-Fort Worth surge.

There was more good news for North Carolina in the report:

in September, 8,634 open jobs were posted among Raleigh employers, according to the NC Technology Association.

And information technology jobs are forecast to grow another 8 percent over the next five years.

Average pay is now more than $800 a year better than the national average, CompTIA adds.

Overall, a CompTIA spokesperson concluded about Raleigh:

  • “Raleigh is and affordable city overflowing with in-demand tech talent.
  • “Multiple universities and community colleges keep the pipeline of workers filled.”

Employers looking for talent include:

  • IBM
  • Red Hat, which is owned by IBM
  • Wells Fargo
  • MetLife
  • SAS
  • Verizon
  • Credit Suisse
  • Lenovo

“This year, perhaps more than any other, the tech industry has been called upon to keep the country and the world connected, reaffirming the need for a skilled, tech-ready workforce and innovative companies,” said Nancy Hammervik, CompTIA’s executive vice president for industry relations. “These cities, many previous Tech Town Index honorees, are emblematic of the vibrancy of America’s tech community.”

CompTIA graphic

 

The complete CompTIA 2020 Tech Town Index, with 2019 ranking in parentheses.

1.     Austin-Round Rock, Texas (1)

2.     Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (7)

3.     Raleigh, N.C. (2)

4.     San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif. (3)

5.     Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, N.C.-S.C. (6)

6.     Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash. (4)

7.     San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, Calif. (5)

8.     Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, Ga. (8)

9.     Huntsville, Ala. (10)

10.     Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, Colo. (9)

11.     Washington-Arlington-Alexandria D.C.-Va.-Md.-W Va. (11)

12.     Boulder, Colo. (14)

13.     Durham-Chapel Hill, N.C. (13)

14.     Columbus, Ohio (12)

15.     Colorado Springs, Colo. (16)

16.     Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, Mass.-N.H. (15)

17.     Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, Md. (30)

18.     Madison, Wis. (N/R)

19.     San Diego-Carlsbad, Calif. (17)

20.     Trenton, N.J. (NR)

About the index: “The 2020 Tech Town Index is based on CompTIA’s evaluation of U.S. metropolitan areas with populations over 250,000 where demand for technology professionals is high, based on job posting data for the 12-month period between August 2019 and July 2020. The metro areas were then ranked on livability and career factors, including the cost of living and projected IT job growth over the next five years.”