Best Tech Recruiting Hotspots: How Does Your State Rate?

Despite the news that the IT job market shrank by more than 48,000 jobs in 2023, there are still more than 120,000 unfilled IT jobs out there, according to IT business consultants Janco Associates.

If your company is tech recruiting for unfilled positions, the experts at AI prompt management solution company AIPRM identified the geographical locations where you should look. It analyzed tech sectors, employment rates, employee wages, program offerings, and even the internet speeds, of each state (and Washington, D.C.), and broke down where in the U.S. top tech talent is most likely to live.

Two key findings:

• Washington — the home of Amazon and Microsoft — is the most tech-savvy state, scoring 89.5 out of a possible 100 points. The Evergreen State also provides an excellent base salary for aspiring tech entrepreneurs and developers with a mean annual wage of $134,925 — the second-highest in the U.S.
• With a score of 88.4, California ranks as the No. 2 state for tech. But because the Golden State hosts the largest concentration of tech companies in America, it accordingly offers the highest rate of pay at an average of $164,917 annually.

While California, the home base of Apple and the much-ballyhooed “Silicon Valley,” is recognized as the global capital of high tech, it ranked only second-best for opportunities for tech enthusiasts. This came as a surprise to AIPRM founder and CEO Christoph Cemper.

In a statement, Cemper said he was also surprised that Texas didn’t show up much higher on the list of tech-savvy states because he said it’s where “a lot of tech companies” are either located or plan to relocate in the future. The Lone Star State’s in the middle of the pack at No. 22.

“As the U.S. technology market is continuously growing and adapting, it is interesting to note which states place as the most tech-savvy,” he said.

The Other Top States for Tech Recruiting

Notably, Washington, D.C., famous for highly skilled labor and a strong talent pool, ranked third among locales that extensively use technology. The nation’s capitol also boasts one of the most diverse tech workforces in the country, according to AIPRM, which is headquartered in No. 12 Delaware.

Here’s how the rest of the top 10 stacked up:

• Massachusetts (home of MIT) (No. 4)
• Virginia (No. 5)
• Maryland (No. 6)
• Colorado (No. 7)
• New York (No. 8)
• New Jersey (No. 9), and
• Rhode Island (No. 10).

Eye on the Tech Recruiting Pipeline

Because it’s also important to keep in mind where your future tech talent is coming from, here are the top 10 states for aspiring tech students, according to AIPRM:

1. Rhode Island (nine programs, 62% graduation rate)
2. Washington, D.C. (19 programs, 60% graduation rate)
3. Massachusetts (70 programs, 59% graduation rate)
4. Vermont (12 programs, 56% graduation rate)
5. Indiana (41 programs, 55% graduation rate)
6. Pennsylvania (69 programs, 55% graduation rate)
7. Iowa (22 programs, 54% graduation rate)
8. New York (113 programs, 53% graduation rate)
9. Wisconsin (23 programs, 53% graduation rate), and
10. California (211 programs, 52% graduation rate).

Where Tech Recruiting is Challenging

AIPRM says these are the deserts for tech recruiting:

• South Dakota (No. 42)
• Maine (No. 43)
• Montana (No. 44)
• Kentucky (No. 45)
• North Dakota (No. 46)
• Indiana (No. 47)
• Arkansas (No. 48)
• West Virginia (No. 49)
• Louisiana (No. 50), and
• Mississippi (No. 51).

But don’t worry, HRMorning has resources to help you with your tech recruiting efforts.

Tech Staffing Benchmarks

A recent survey from embedded analytics software company Reveal found that the hardest tech roles to fill will be:

• AI integration
• Software developer
• Data analyst
• Web designer, and
• Web developer.

Meanwhile, the most sought-after tech skills, according to Reveal, are:

• Working with web layouts
• User experience/user interface design
• Data analysis, and
• Data visualization.

And check out this video on 15 tech recruiting terms you should know.