Miami – July 13, 2021 – According to CBRE’s 2021 Tech Talent Report, South Florida has the most diverse tech-degree graduate pool in the U.S., ranking first with 68.1 percent of its graduates in underrepresented race/ethnicity groups.*

Numerous indicators underscore the resilience of tech talent during COVID-19. These occupations registered job growth of 0.8 percent in 2020 in the U.S. while non-tech occupations declined by 5.5 percent. Software developers and programmers were the most in demand tech-job category last year, adding 85,000 U.S. jobs for a 4.8 percent growth rate from a year earlier. Beyond the tech industry itself, those that added tech workers last year include financial activities, professional & business services, and government.

South Florida has the 23^rd largest tech talent labor pool nationally with 67,500 tech workers, an 18 percent increase from 2015. Following the pandemic, factors including the size of a market’s talent labor pool is a key indicator of a region’s economic recovery.

Overall, the top five markets for tech talent in 2020 were the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, Washington, D.C., Toronto and New York City, all large markets with a tech labor pool of more than 50,000. South Florida ranks #37 on the report as North American tech-talent employment weathered the pandemic better than most other professions.

“South Florida will continue to benefit and gain momentum based on the factors highlighted in this report, particularly a diverse and growing talent pool with a focus on the technology sector,” said Josh Bank, a Managing Director at CBRE in Miami. “In the market, we are witnessing a tipping point as the growing technology sector matures into a true global tech hub. This makes a vibrant ecosystem in which accessing talent is such a critical component.”

Of South Florida’s 2,770 tech-degree graduates in 2020, more than two thirds were of underrepresented races and ethnicities. Roughly half of that graduate class is Hispanic, while 15.1% are Black and 3.1% are in the “other category.” CBRE doesn’t count Asian or White tech-talent workers and graduates among those underrepresented in North America.

CBRE’s annual report, now in its ninth year, ranks the top 50 North American markets by analyzing 13 measures of their ability to attract and develop tech talent, including tech graduation rates, tech-job concentration, tech labor pool size, and labor and real estate costs, among others. CBRE also ranks the Next 25 emerging tech markets on a narrower set of criteria. Tech talent is defined as 20 key tech professions -- such as software developers and systems and data managers – across all industries.

South Florida stood out in the report in a number of other key areas:

• The millennial population aged 23 to 38 increased by 5.7 percent (70,017 people) since 2014.
• South Florida’s average annual apartment rent amounts to 22.3 percent of the average tech-talent wage, the fourth most expensive among the 50 largest tech-talent markets.
• The average tech talent wage has increased by 17.9 percent in from 2015-2020 to an average of $92,096.
• South Florida had 12,677 tech-degree completions from 2015-2019.
• Overall, South Florida ranks in the middle of the pack for tech company operating costs. The average one-year cost for operating a 500-employee tech company occupying 75,000 sq. ft. in South Florida amounts to $44.2 million. That ranks as the 23^rd most expensive among the top 50 tech-talent markets.

Top Overall North American Tech Markets