Monday, August 13, 2012

Top 10 Technology Hiring Hot Spots

When it comes to career opportunities, technology job seekers with in-demand skills can find work in a lot of towns and enjoy healthy earnings. But which city offers the best combination of technology job opportunities and pay?

Online salary database PayScale tackled this question and came up with a ranking of the top 10 technology job locations. Here’s how:

  • For each of the 50 largest US metro areas, an IT employment score was calculated, which is the ratio of IT workers to all workers in the area, divided by the national ratio of IT workers.
  • An IT median pay score was also computed, which is the ratio of median IT pay in each area to the national median IT pay of $72,900 per year.
  • The two numbers were then multiplied to create an IT hot spot score. A higher number indicates more and better-paid technology jobs available in that area.
So if you’re curious if you or your geek friends should move to Austin, Seattle or somewhere else, check out this ranking of the top 10 hot spots for technology workers.

1. San Francisco Metro Area
From the Pacific Coast to Silicon Valley, the Bay Area is home to such major tech players as Apple, Oracle, Google and Facebook.
  • IT Hot Spot Score: 2.27
  • IT Worker Median Pay: $95,500
  • High-Paying Tech Jobs: Software team leader ($142,000), SAP Basis administrator ($131,000), technical support manager ($97,900)
Find technology jobs in the San Francisco area.

2. Seattle Metro Area

Microsoft and Amazon lead tech hiring in Seattle, while Boeing and a strong startup community also keep plenty of technology all-stars employed.
  • IT Hot Spot Score: 1.80
  • IT Worker Median Pay: $86,900
  • High-Paying Tech Jobs: Business intelligence developer ($97,200), database developer ($88,200), software developer ($84,400)
Find technology jobs in the Seattle area.

3. Washington, DC, Metro Area

The nation’s capital has a high demand for tech workers who can build security systems, support US defense efforts and maintain huge collections of data.
  • IT Hot Spot Score: 1.69
  • IT Worker Median Pay: $79,700
  • High-Paying Tech Jobs: Computer security specialist ($85,200), information technology specialist ($66,200), IT network technician ($61,300)
Find technology jobs in the Washington, DC, area.

4. Austin Metro Area

Dell is a well-recognized player in the metro Austin IT community, but plenty of smaller companies and startups offer tech jobs in the area as well.
  • IT Hot Spot Score: 1.62
  • IT Worker Median Pay: $74,100
  • High-Paying Tech Jobs: Information technology architect ($126,000), information technology consultant ($86,600), information technology specialist ($59,300)
Find technology jobs in the Austin area.

5. Raleigh, North Carolina, Metro Area

The only Southeast hot spot on the list, Raleigh sits inside the Research Triangle, an area with a high concentration of technology companies, major academic research institutions and startups.
  • IT Hot Spot Score: 1.45
  • IT Worker Median Pay: $74,100
  • High-Paying Tech Jobs: Senior network engineer ($99,500), technical support specialist ($46,200), IT support technician ($40,400)
Find technology jobs in the Raleigh area.

6. Denver Metro Area

For geeks who like to hike, Denver might be a great spot. A healthy economy overall plus innovation coming out of local universities help keep the Denver tech community strong.
  • IT Hot Spot Score: 1.31
  • IT Worker Median Pay: $73,300
  • High-Paying Tech Jobs: Programmer analyst ($75,400), information technology specialist ($54,000), IT support technician ($41,600)
Find technology jobs in the Denver area.

7. Salt Lake City Metro Area

Major employers like L-3 Communications, the US Air Force and Overstock.com help create tech jobs in Salt Lake.
  • IT Hot Spot Score: 1.27
  • IT Worker Median Pay: $70,900
  • High-Paying Tech Jobs: Programmer analyst ($70,900), technical support specialist ($40,600), IT support technician ($36,800)
Find technology jobs in the Salt Lake City area.

8. Boston Metro Area

Research is the name of the game in Boston. Several major research universities are located in Beantown as well as big biotech companies like Genzyme.
  • IT Hot Spot Score: 1.24
  • IT Worker Median Pay: $78,600
  • High-Paying Tech Jobs: Consulting software engineer ($128,000), IT project engineer ($94,200), Webmaster ($56,300)
Find technology jobs in the Boston area.

9. Minneapolis Metro Area

Head to the middle of the country, and you’ll find another town with several universities and big employers like UnitedHealth Group, General Mills and Accenture.
  • IT Hot Spot Score: 1.21
  • IT Worker Median Pay: $69,700
  • High-Paying Tech Jobs: Technical project manager ($98,600), senior systems administrator ($85,200), quality assurance analyst ($53,000)
Find technology jobs in the Minneapolis area.

10. New York City Metro Area

A lot of business happens in the Big Apple. From finance to Web commerce, techies can find work with major employers like PricewaterhouseCoopers and Johnson & Johnson, as well as with up-and-coming IT startups like Tumblr and Foursquare.
  • IT Hot Spot Score: 1.13
  • IT Worker Median Pay: $80,100
  • High-Paying Tech Jobs: Senior database engineer ($131,000), quality assurance analyst ($61,300), IT support specialist ($54,100)
Find technology jobs in the New York City area.






Source: Monster

Multiplex