Chapter 2

What defines a Tech Talent market?

Scoring Tech Talent 2026

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Two key characteristics of top tech talent markets are high educational attainment and high concentrations of young people.

Forty-four of the top 50 tech talent markets have a metro-level educational attainment rate above their national averages of 36.8% in the U.S. and 35.7% in Canada. The top 10 markets have at least 46% of residents over 25 years old with a bachelor's degree or higher (Figure 16). Washington, D.C., the San Francisco Bay Area, Raleigh-Durham, Denver, Boston, Austin and Madison have rates of 52% or more.

Education, particularly with a focus on technology, is best analyzed through degrees issued by higher educational institutions. Metro areas that produced the most tech graduates last year with bachelor's or higher degrees were New York Metro, Boston, Los Angeles-Orange County and Washington, D.C. (Figure 17). Large tech talent markets dominate the top 10 degree-granting metros. Demand is high for tech-related education. Between 2021 and 2024, U.S. tech-related degrees grew by 34,800. The fastest growing metros for tech degrees were Dallas-Ft. Worth, Salt Lake City and Philadelphia. This analysis provides insight into which markets produce the most tech talent entering the labor pool each year.

Figure 16: Top 10 Markets for Educational Attainment* (2024)

*Population age 25+ with a bachelor's degree or higher.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Environics Analytics, April 2026.

Figure 17: Top 10 Markets for Tech Degree Completions

Note: bachelor's degree or higher.
Source: National Center for Education Statistics, Canadian Universities, May 2026.

Many graduates do not stay in the market where they earn their degree; they often move to markets that offer the most job opportunities or have the best pay. Analyzing tech-related graduation data and tech-related employment growth identifies tech talent flow between where workers are employed and where they were educated (Figure 18). Tech degrees cover the most recent three-year period available (2022-2024) and tech talent jobs added cover the period when most graduates would be counted in employment figures (2023-2025).

The standout markets where tech talent job creation has exceeded tech graduates were Toronto, Calgary, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Seattle and Nashville. Other top tech talent job creators were Jacksonville, Charlotte, Vancouver and South Florida.

Slowing demand for tech talent and rising supply of tech graduates reduced the number of job creation markets and increased education or tech graduate markets. Forty-one markets had more tech degree graduates than new tech talent jobs. The top tech graduate markets—those with more tech degree graduates than tech talent jobs—were the San Francisco Bay Area, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles-Orange County, New York Metro, Boston and Atlanta. Job losses over the past three years made the San Francisco Bay Area and Washington, D.C. the top two tech graduate markets amid slower tech degree completions growth.

Figure 18: Tech Degrees vs. Tech Jobs Added by Market

*Tech degrees cover the most recent three-year period available (2022-2024) and tech jobs added cover the time period reflecting when most graduates would be counted in employment figures (2023-2025).
Source: CBRE Research, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Center for Education Statistics, Canadian Universities, 2026.

The number and concentration of people in their 20s and 30s, which drives innovation, is another notable characteristic of top tech talent markets. Those in their 30s are the largest demographic cohort in the workforce, while those in their 20s will fuel future growth (Figures 19 and 20).

There were 10 markets with fast-growing populations in their 20s and 23 markets with those in their 30s, both with increases of more than 10% from 2019 to 2024. The Waterloo Region had the most overall growth of residents in their 20s at 50%, followed by Calgary (22%), Toronto (19%), Vancouver (17%) and Salt Lake City (13%). Among the largest tech talent markets, Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa and Calgary led with 20% or more growth of those in their 30s, while the Waterloo Region and Richmond led the smallest markets with 38% and 18%, respectively.

Figure 19: Population Change of Those in Their 20s by Market, 2019-2024

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Statistics Canada, May 2026.

Figure 20: Population Change of Those in Their 30s by Market, 2019-2024

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Statistics Canada, May 2026.

Growth rates were higher for degree-holders in their 20s and 30s. All but three markets saw degree-holders in their 20s increase between 2019 and 2024, with 11% aggregate growth for the 42 U.S. markets. Degree-holders in their 30s grew in all markets during the same period, with 17% growth for the 42-market aggregate (Figures 21 and 22).

Figure 21: Change in Residents in Their 20s with College Degrees by U.S. Market, 2019-2024

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, IPUMS, May 2026.

Figure 22: Change in Residents in Their 30s with College Degrees by U.S. Market, 2019-2024

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, IPUMS, May 2026.

The Waterloo Region, Salt Lake City, Madison, Toronto and Vancouver had the highest concentrations of residents in their 20s, comprising 16% or more of each market's total population (Figure 23). Austin, Seattle and Calgary had the highest concentrations of residents in their 30s (Figure 24).

Figure 23: Top 10 Most Concentrated Markets for Residents in Their 20s (2024)

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Statistics Canada, May 2026.

Figure 24: Top 10 Most Concentrated Markets for Residents in Their 30s (2024)

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Statistics Canada, May 2026.

People in their 20s and 30s accounted for 49% of the tech talent workforce across all industries in the U.S., compared with 40% for general office-using industries (Figure 25). Tech talent working within the tech industry had an even higher concentration at 52%. Older workers (age 55 and up) comprised 30% of the labor force for all office-using industries, compared with 21% of tech talent working in all industries and 17% of tech talent working within the tech industry.

Figure 25: U.S. Workforce by Age for Select Industries (2024)

Note: Office-using includes occupations that are typically performed in an office setting (excluding tech talent).
Source: U.S. Census, IPUMS, CBRE Research, May 2026.

Top markets are distinguished by tech clusters and higher concentrations of tech talent. These clusters typically form around preeminent universities that tend to invest the most in innovation and provide a steady flow of new talent for local companies. Tech clusters also form around leading companies that draw other companies to a region and support an innovative ecosystem that spawns new entrepreneurs and companies.

Tech companies use these clusters for synergy and competition, thereby accelerating the innovation process. These companies in the high-tech industry are heavily concentrated, with 52% of their workers doing tech-related jobs in the U.S. and 66% in Canada (Figure 26). Consequently, tech talent clusters tend to form in markets with a strong concentration of high-tech companies.

Figure 26: Tech Talent Workforce Concentration by Industry (2025)

*Includes computer software and services
**Excluding High-Tech
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Statistics Canada, May 2026.
Clusters typically form around preeminent universities that tend to invest the most in innovation and provide a steady flow of new talent for local companies. 

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