The fastest growing US city for tech pros is not where you think
Where do you move to secure the job you want? For job seekers, it could pay them to relocate to a city where they do not yet have a job.
Even large and upcoming cities that are still growing tend to favor local job candidates, so if you want to live there -- and get the job you have always wanted -- why not take that leap of faith?
Holmdel, NJ-based talent acquisition company iCIMS looked at the best places for tech jobs in the US and uncovered some surprising findings.
The percentage of job applicants in Provo, UT wishing to move outside their city was the highest in the US. There, over half of the job applicants (51.3%) looked for jobs outside of the city.
This was followed by Durhan, NC and Ogden, UT where 50% and 48.7% of job applicants respectively applied for jobs outside of the cities.
These cities run the greatest risk of 'brain drain' as applicants move away from the city in search of a better job.
In contrast, only 4.5% of applicants from Boise City, ID applied for jobs outside the town, and 5.6% of job applicants in Louisville, KY applied for jobs outside of the city. Across the country, almost one in five (18%) of applications are sent outside of an applicant's home address.
If you are looking for a job outside of your home town, be aware that some cities are much more selective than others.
In Boston, Mass., only 2.2% of out-of-town applicants get hired. In Bridgeport, CT, the figure is 2.6%, and in New York, NY, the figure is 3.3%.
Springfield, Mass., is the most welcoming place for out-of-town applicants at 17.7%, followed by Portland, Maine at 13.9%. Across the whole of the US, an average of 8.8% of out-of-town applicants get hired.
It is good news for tech professionals. This group has access to a wider range of jobs to choose from when searching across cities.
When looking for the cities with the largest percentage of year on year growth of tech job openings, Raleigh, NC tops the list with a 56.9% growth, followed by Omaha, NE at 56.6% growth. In Raleigh, the average cost for a home is just $260,100.
Omaha is followed by Austin, TX at 46.4%, Charlotte NC at 45.9%, and Richmond, VA at 44.8%.
Seattle comes next at sixth place with 37.4%, and San Francisco, Calif., trails at 9th place with 34.7%. However, to buy a house in San Francisco, you would need to shell out $830,000 for an average home.
Josh Wright, chief economist of iCIMS, said:
"Some tech roles are especially hard to fill, so those are better bets for beating the odds and moving out of town. Many employers struggle to find app developers, information security analysts, information system research scientists, and database administrators."
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