CyberCities Report Released

All but one of the metro areas evaluated saw their high-tech industry employment grow during the last five years according to a 135-page report, Cybercities: A City By City Overview of the High-Technology Industry.

The report, assessing the U.S. high-tech industry in 60 metropolitan areas nationwide, was released Dec. 5 by AeA (formerly the American Electronics Association) and The Nasdaq Stock Market. As with previous AeA reports, the definition of high technology is narrowly defined as high-tech electronics manufacturing, communications services, and software and computer-related services.

The high-tech industry added 1.1 million new jobs nationally since 1993, or eight percent of the 13.8 million jobs created by the U.S. private sector in the same time span, the report said.

The cities with the largest high-tech employment growth rates during the last five years were Colorado Springs (77 %) San Francisco (65 %), Houston (64 %), Denver (63 %) and Sacramento (57%). The nation’s top cybercities in terms of high-tech employment are San Jose (252,900), Boston (234,800), Chicago (180,400), Washington, D.C. (177,700) and Dallas (176,600).

Seattle had the nation’s top technology salaries in 1998, averaging $129,300, or 50 percent more than the average high-tech wage paid in second-place San Jose ($85,100). Seattle’s high-tech average wage was about 200 percent more than the average private sector wage in Seattle. Other leading high-tech wage cities are Middlesex, N.J. ($78,800), San Francisco ($78,400), and Austin ($76,300).

Other highlights in the study include:

• High-tech job growth accounted for 40 percent of all private sector job growth in San Jose and for 24 percent or more for Hartford, Huntsville AL, Dutchess County (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.), and Colorado Springs.
• Seven states have three or more cybercities – California, Colorado, Florida, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Texas. Washington, D.C., leads in software services employment with 70,400 workers; Boston ranks second at 48,100 followed by San Jose at 43,300.
• San Jose has the nation’s highest number of workers in computer, electronics components, semiconductor and industrial electronics manufacturing.
• Home computer penetration is highest in San Jose, Colorado Springs, Portland, OR., Salt Lake City and Washington, D.C., with computers in at least 65 percent of all homes as of August, 2000.
• Boulder, San Francisco, Denver, Raleigh and Minneapolis-St. Paul are the most desirable places to live based on six quality of life factors: air pollution, crime, unemployment, commute times, arts and culture and climate.
• San Francisco is the leading cybercity for venture capital investments at $9.3 billion in 1999, followed by San Jose, New York, Boston and Oakland.
• The San Francisco Bay Area, Orange County, CA. and Boston have the highest housing costs with 1999 median home prices of more than $230,000.

More information on the CyberCities report can be found on AeA’s website at www.aeanet.org