Pittsburgh ranked most diverse tech market in CBRE report

Compared to 49 other top tech hubs, Pittsburgh has the most diverse talent market, according to an annual report that ranks tech-focused cities on various metrics.

Pittsburgh ranked 29th overall, fourth for small-market tech hubs and first for diversity.

The city had the highest percentage of tech-degree completions by women among the top 50 markets included in the report. Women accounted for 30.9% of the 5,414 tech degrees awarded in the market in 2019, the report found.

CBRE Group Inc., the commercial real estate services and investment firm headquartered in Dallas, released its annual “Scoring Tech Talent Report” on Tuesday. The report, which is in its ninth year, ranks the top 50 North American markets by analyzing 13 different metrics including their ability to attract and develop tech talent, their tech graduation rates, the size of the labor pool and real estate costs. Tech “talent” includes 20 different professions, from software developers to systems and data managers, across different industries.

The Bay Area had the highest ranking, followed by Seattle, Washington, D.C., Toronto and the New York Metro area. Pittsburgh fell at number 29, jumping up one spot from 30 in the 2020 report.

With 43,080 tech workers, Pittsburgh is on the edge of the small tech talent market, defined as tech labor pools of less than 50,000 people. In that group, Pittsburgh ranked fourth, behind Columbus, Calgary and Orlando.

When analyzing diversity, CBRE ranked Pittsburgh as the

most diverse tech talent market. Charlotte came in second place and Nashville followed in third.

Still, the report acknowledged that tech talent was predominantly white, Asian and male relative to total employment in 2020. Hispanic people, Black people and women were underrepresented in tech occupations and the industry.

Individuals from underrepresented groups accounted for 23.5% of 2019 tech degree graduates, the report found. That was less than the same group’s share of all degree graduates, which was 29%.

Women accounted for 24.9% of tech degree graduates, much lower than the group’s 58% share of all graduates.

San Antonio, the Greater Los Angeles area/Orange County and Austin had the least diverse tech talent pool, the report found.

For the Pittsburgh market, the report also found:

The city’s tech labor force increased 10.7% since 2015. The average wage for tech workers increased 15.1% in that time period to $88,685.

The average one-year cost for operating a 500-employee tech company occupying 75,000 square feet in Pittsburgh amounts to $40.9 million.