Though attendance at South by South West Interactive was lower than usual this year, the calmer atmosphere is more indicative of California’s economy than it is of Austin’s. The state capital was named the fastest growing city for tech jobs by Forbes last year, with companies like Facebook, Indeed, Google, Amazon, and PayPal employing a sizable portion of the metro’s workforce.
Austin’s top 100 tech companies now employ nearly half of the 86,000 people working in STEM jobs or careers that involve science, technology, engineering, or mathematics, according to Built in Austin.
The majority of tech companies are newcomers (arriving over the last 5-10 years), and about 50 percent of the ones from out-of-state are headquartered in California, highlighting employer’s consistent interest in Texas’ economy, as well as its talented workforce.
The U.S. tech industry continues to swell, with Texas moving into the nation’s No. 2 spot for tech-related jobs, falling behind California, reports the Austin Business Journal. “The average wage of a Texas technology worker reached $99,700, which is 84 percent more than the average private sector worker in the state.”
‘Healthcare and tech are our bread and butter’
Companies in general are increasingly looking to relocate to Texas and Austin especially, due to the state’s business friendly attitude. In a March 11 interview on Fox News, Gov. Greg Abbott said Americans have a great misconception that Texas is simply an oil and gas state.
“Oil and gas is really just the gravy we put on our meal. Our bread and butter is healthcare and technology… What state in the United States of America do you think is the leading exporter of technology?” asked Abbott. “Texas leads the nation in technology exports…”
Both established and startup companies are coming to Texas because it has lower taxes, fewer regulations and in general is a more profitable place to operate, said Abbott, adding that Apple is opening the second largest campus in the world and will be conducting its Western hemisphere operations from none other than the state capital.
Nearly 14,000 jobs were added in Texas last year under the tech umbrella, an industry accounting for more than half a million jobs in the Lone Star State.
“The technology industry now accounts for 14 percent of all jobs in Central Texas and the sector’s growth has outpaced all other industries by nearly 9 percentage points during the past five years. Tech employment has risen by 28 percent versus 18 percent for other industries during that span,” said the Austin Business Journal.
A population destination
Migrants from all over continued to be attracted to Austin and its booming job market, which has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation for its size, less than 4 percent. Last year it was reported that an estimated 157 new residents are relocating to the city each year, making Austin the third-fastest growing metro area in the country, according to Austin Culture Map.
“The only metro areas that grew faster than Austin were Myrtle Beach, North Carolina, which grew by 3.2 percent, and The Villages, Florida, which grew by 5.4 percent.
“A lot of the Lone Star State is growing quickly too. In addition to Austin, three other Texas metro areas were among the nation’s 20 fastest growing by rate of change. Odessa was No. 4, Midland was No. 9, and Houston was No. 11.
“Texas also had the most counties in the country (11) on the list of the top 50 numerical gainers. Texas also had the two metro areas with the largest numeric increases. Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land (No. 1) and Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington (No. 2) were the only metro areas in the country to add more than 100,000 residents between 2013 and 2014.”
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