Desert Bloom

The Phoenix area, once known for its hotels and low-wage call centers, is quickly developing a reputation as a hub for tech and entrepreneurship. The number of tech companies headquartered in downtown Phoenix has grown from 67 in 2012 to more than 300 today. Many of them—including WebPT (maker of web-based software for physical therapists) and Picmonic, which has developed a mnemonics platform for cramming med and nursing school students—are based in the newly revitalized Warehouse District. Galvanize—one of the largest coding schools in the U.S. and a tech co-working space—just opened a campus there, as did the Society for Technical Communication. Other rapidly growing industries in and around Phoenix include construction, cybersecurity, financial services, and health care. Unemployment is at an all-time low of 3.4 percent, and the area enjoyed the highest average wage increase across all industries in the U.S. last year.