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Topic: IT Employment

Want a job in tech? Don't move to Arkansas

Summary: But contrary to popular belief, it's not San Francisco that holds the most promise in the U.S.

Andrew Nusca

By for Between the Lines |

baltimore-skyline-federal_hill_lowres

Job search engine SimplyHired has a new jobs report out for July 2012, and the outlook is looking up.

The service reports a 9.2 percent increase in job openings over June and a 13.3 percent increase from the same month a year ago. It's the second month in a row that the numbers are looking up.

Job openings increased in all 50 major metropolitan areas in the U.S.

The largest increases? Boston (16%), Pittsburgh (16%) and Salt Lake City (15%).

That's all well and good, you're thinking, but what about tech jobs? The folks at VentureBeat narrowed the focus and managed to pull just those numbers from SimplyHired's report.

Without further ado, the best and worst metro areas in terms of tech hiring right now:

Top 10:

  1. Baltimore
  2. Detroit
  3. Charlotte, N.C.
  4. Portland-Vancouver
  5. Seattle
  6. Pittsburgh
  7. Milwaukee
  8. Richmond, VA
  9. Raleigh
  10. New York City

Bottom 10:

  1. Newark, N.J.
  2. Birmingham, Al.
  3. Riverside, Calif.
  4. Little Rock
  5. Honolulu
  6. Boulder
  7. Huntsville
  8. Sacramento
  9. Indianapolis
  10. Orlando

To be clear, the best and worst markets in terms of absolute number of job openings closely mirrors the size of the city's population: so New York City is tops, followed by Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia and Dallas. 

Nonetheless, a nice reminder to look further afield for that next gig.

Photo: Baltimore skyline from Federal Hill. (Visit Baltimore)

Topic: IT Employment

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9 comments
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  • Arkansas?

    What does the headline imply? I do see LR as 4th on list, but also 2 California cities and 2 Alabama cities. So where does the factual information come in when degrading Arkansas? Walmart and its vendors employ 1000s of IT workers in NW Arkansas!
    kreamtiger
    Reply 5 Votes

    • Not to mention that Conway, AR is the HQ of Acxiom Corporation.

      And they're more or less always hiring there.
      Aerowind
      Reply Vote

    • To be clear

      It's not about where there are tech jobs in general; it's about where tech firms are hiring right now. And Arkansas tech firms, relative to the rest of the nation, are not. I'm all for hometown pride, believe me, but let's address the actual topic at hand.
      andrew.nusca
      Reply Vote

      • Link to VentureBeat

        The opening paragraph to the original article in VentureBeat has a more accurate description than the slightly modified headline that Nusca used:

        If you’re looking for a job in technology, get out of New Jersey, fast. Get out of Birmingham, Alabama. Cross the river to New York, or the country to San Francisco. Even better, fly to Baltimore, Detroit, or Pittsburgh.
        popboomus
        Reply Vote

  • Did you mean..

    Charlotte, NC? It is really close to SC, but...
    grant@...
    Reply 3 Votes

    • OK, OK

      You've made your point, wiseguy. Typo fixed; tail placed firmly between legs.
      andrew.nusca
      Reply 1 Vote

  • That's why it's so hard to get a job in Charlotte, NC...

    ...people keep looking for it in SOUTH Carolina. :D
    IT_Fella
    Reply 1 Vote

  • Wow #10 on the bottom 10

    Slim pickings here in Tampa as well.
    Nate_K
    Reply Vote

  • Miami

    is not in either list, I wonder what place it is overall?
    Jimster480
    Reply Vote
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