Which States Have the Most Demand for Tech Workers?

Tech workers tend to seek opportunities in states with high concentrations of tech workers. A recent survey by DevRev revealed the states with most and least tech job vacancies. While there are relatively few surprises among the highest- ranking states, some of the lowest-ranking states were surprising.

DevRev obtained data from Indeed to discover the number of vacancies in the tech industry in each state; these figures were weighed against the population to determine the final ranking. Based on this methodology, the states with the least demand for tech workers were, in order from the bottom, Mississippi,  Louisiana, and─a big surprise─New York. The Empire State had 289 tech job vacancies per 100,000 workers. Other somewhat surprising states in the bottom 10 per tech job demand include, at #7, Michigan with 313 tech job vacancies per 100,000 workers, and at #10, New Jersey with 361 vacancies per 100,000. The graph below lists details.

States With the Least Demand for Tech Workers

Looking behind the data, New York State’s poor showing likely reflects New York City accounting for a lion’s share of those tech vacancies, with far fewer tech jobs outside the New York City metropolitan area. Much of New York State has relatively few tech jobs, although there are attempts to establish tech jobs in some areas, such as central New York State.

Related:Tech Layoffs Persist Despite Positive BLS Jobs Report

Also in the bottom 10 was New Jersey, where there are tech companies in the northeastern and central regions of the state and pharmaceutical companies that have tech jobs. The state does have several cities, however, with unemployed or low-wage workers in service industries.

As far as states with the most tech job vacancies, Virginia ranked first with 843 vacancies per 100,000, followed by  Arizona with 761 vacancies per 100,000.  The graph below provides more details.

States With the Most Demand for Tech Workers

Where does your state rank as far as tech job vacancies? You can view the list here.