ATL Named 6th Fastest Growing Market for Tech Talent

Atlanta is on the up-and-up according to a new CBRE Research report, “Scoring Tech Talent,” which ranks 50 U.S. markets according to their ability to attract and grow tech talent.

  • With a 21 percent growth in tech talent since 2010, Atlanta ranks as one of the nation’s top 10 “momentum markets” for tech-driven demand.
  • Atlanta ranks as number 10 on the overall tech talent list, and has the lowest apartment rents, cost of living, occupancy costs and overall cost of doing business, when compared with the other cities in the top 10 (Silicon Valley, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, San Francisco Peninsula, New York, Seattle, Boston, Baltimore and Austin).
  •  Atlanta’s talent growth rate from 2010-2013 was 21.2 percent, making it the sixth fastest growing market out of the top 10.
  • With Atlanta’s educational attainment rate of 46.8 percent, a figure measuring the amount of individuals at least 25 years old with a bachelor’s degree or higher, and the lowest overall cost of living and cost of doing business, the city’s tech attraction momentum is expected to continue upward.

Atlanta on it

For the past two years, the high-tech industry has not only spurred the economy as a whole, but it has been the top driver of commercial office activity, influencing rents and vacancy in major markets across the U.S., including Atlanta. Over half of my tech clients are projecting headcount growth over the next 12-24 months. I’m seeing just as much, if not more, organic growth from Atlanta based technology companies, as we are seeing from out-of-town tech companies opening offices here. Given Atlanta’s unique combination of a low cost of doing business, incredible educational institutions, density of Fortune 1000 companies, increase of venture capital activity over the last two years, and the pace of talent growth in the tech sector, Atlanta has all of ingredients to continue being one of the fastest growing tech hubs in the U.S. – Christian Devlin, who leads CBRE’s Tech and Media Practice in Atlanta

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