Chicago Totals 161,800 Tech Jobs in 2009
Chicago Ranks 7th by Tech Employment
WASHINGTON, Dec. 8, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- TechAmerica Foundation today released its latest report on trends in the U.S. high-tech industry, Cybercities 2010: The Definitive Analysis of the High-Tech Industry in the Nation's Top 60 Cities. This detailed report tracks trends in high-tech employment, wages, establishments, payroll, employment concentration, and wage differential at the metropolitan level.
The high-tech industry in Chicago employed 161,800 workers in 2009, ranked 7th nationwide, the most current metropolitan data available. This represents a loss of 8,200 jobs, or five percent, over the previous year. These jobs are high paying; the average tech industry worker in Chicago earned $82,500 or 64 percent more than the metropolitan area's average private sector wage.
Chicago's largest high-tech sector was computer systems design and related services, which employed 43,800 workers in 2009. Following this was telecommunications services, with 31,000 workers, and R&D and testing labs, with 23,500 workers in 2009.
"Chicago leads the Midwest in technology and has the third largest concentration of tech establishments in the nation," said T. Kendall Hunt, Chairman, CEO, VASCO Data Security International, Inc. and Chair of TechAmerica Midwest. "With our world class universities and strong Midwestern work ethic, technology companies recognize that Chicago is a great place to locate or expand operations."
Cybercities 2010 shows that the top ten cybercities by high-tech employment in 2009 were New York, Washington, D.C., San Jose/Silicon Valley, Boston, Dallas – Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle, Philadelphia, and Houston.
The nation's highest tech industry employment concentration was in San Jose/Silicon Valley, where nearly thirty percent of private sector workers were employed by the tech industry. Oklahoma City saw the largest tech industry employment growth, adding over 900 jobs in 2009.
Cybercities 2010 may be purchased for $150. Visit www.techamericafoundation.org to download the report, or call 408.987.4200.
What Does High Tech Mean for Chicago?
- 161,800 high-tech workers in 2009 (7th ranked)
- 8,200 jobs lost between 2008 and 2009 (56th ranked)
- High-tech firms employed 45 of every 1,000 private sector workers in 2009 (47th ranked)
- High-tech workers earned an average wage of $82,500 (26th ranked), or 64 percent more than Chicago's average private sector wage
- A high-tech payroll of $13.3 billion in 2009 (8th ranked)
- 12,000 high-tech establishments in 2009 (3rd ranked)
Chicago's National Industry Sector Rankings:
- 5th in computer systems design and related services with 43,800 jobs
- 5th in telecommunications services with 31,000 jobs
- 7th in Internet services with 10,400 jobs
Notes:
Chicago = Illinois Counties: Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, and Will. Indiana Counties: Jasper, Lake, Newton, and Porter. Wisconsin County: Kenosha.
Data are for 2009 unless otherwise noted.
2009 data are the most current available for employment, wages, payroll, establishments, and industry sector jobs.
Source: Cybercities 2010 is based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data
About TechAmerica Foundation
TechAmerica Foundation educates industry executives, policy makers, and opinion leaders on the promise of technological innovation to advance prosperity, security, and the general welfare. Launched in 1981, the foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, non-partisan affiliate of TechAmerica, the leading voice and resource for the U.S. technology industry. It disseminates award-winning industry, policy and market research covering topics such as U.S. competitiveness in a global economy, innovation in government, and other areas of national interest. The foundation also organizes conferences and seminars to explore pertinent issues with government and industry representatives and to share the foundation's findings.
SOURCE TechAmerica Foundation
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