by King White, on Jul 25, 2017 4:32:54 PM
The demand for tech talent is greater than ever as companies across the world struggle to find IT workers for their software development, software engineering, application development, technical support, shared service centers and other related technology operations. As discussed in my blog about the recent whitepaper released — U.S. Tech City Ranking Report — Site Selection Group identifies top metro areas for tech talent. One of the primary site selection variables utilized to rank those metro areas was college graduates in programs that produce the tech skills most companies are seeking. This blog will help you target both metro areas and colleges based on the degrees awarded in computer and information sciences during your next site selection project.
Large metro areas continue to produce the greatest amount of tech talent
Mega-metro areas such as New York, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington D.C. continue to dominate the top 25 list due to a combination of both large and small colleges and universities offering great undergraduate and graduate level curriculum in computer and information sciences. These large metro areas are also the most competitive hiring markets with wages much higher than the national average which often makes it challenging to attract them if a company is located in a less urbanized metro area.
Smaller “college town” metro areas can be hidden gems for finding tech graduates
There are several hidden gems in cities such as State College, Pennsylvania; Rochester, New York; Ann Arbor, Michigan; and Buffalo, New York. These smaller geographies are incredible recruiting grounds for companies trying to attract graduates to relocate to a new location. You will also find labor cost and competition for labor to be much less than the larger metro areas. There have been many companies who have opted to locate in these smaller metro areas during the site selection process to keep their labor costs down while getting closer to the source of the talent.
Top 25 Metro Areas for Computer & Information Science Graduates
| Metro Area | State | Annual Bachelor Degreesin Computer & Information Sciences | Annual Graduate Degrees in Computer & Information Sciences |
Combined Annual Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York-Newark-Jersey City | NY-NJ-PA | 2,896 | 2,777 | 5,673 |
| Boston-Cambridge-Newton | MA-NH | 1,508 | 1,336 | 2,844 |
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin | IL-IN-WI | 1,058 | 1,757 | 2,815 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim | CA | 1,340 | 1,356 | 2,696 |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria | DC-VA-WV | 1,045 | 1,109 | 2,154 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington | TX | 616 | 1,305 | 1,921 |
| Pittsburgh | PA | 593 | 1,266 | 1,859 |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington | PA-NJ-DE-MD | 1,015 | 733 | 1,748 |
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell | GA | 1,126 | 579 | 1,705 |
| Baltimore-Columbia-Towson | MD | 799 | 745 | 1,544 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue | WA | 764 | 436 | 1,200 |
| San Diego-Carlsbad | CA | 656 | 354 | 1,010 |
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale-W. Palm Beach | FL | 618 | 383 | 1,001 |
| Salt Lake City | UT | 751 | 194 | 945 |
| Austin-Round Rock | TX | 614 | 228 | 842 |
| Denver-Aurora-Lakewood | CO | 433 | 346 | 779 |
| State College | PA | 665 | 110 | 775 |
| Rochester | NY | 500 | 272 | 772 |
| Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land | TX | 368 | 401 | 769 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward | CA | 444 | 271 | 715 |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington | MN-WI | 491 | 197 | 688 |
| Ann Arbor | MI | 449 | 230 | 679 |
| Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale | AZ | 360 | 300 | 660 |
| Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls | NY | 194 | 431 | 625 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara | CA | 347 | 264 | 611 |
There are less tech graduates than you think coming out of colleges
People often think there are thousands of IT graduates coming out of the big universities. This is a bit of a misperception which helps you to understand why hiring these graduates is so competitive. A great example is Pennsylvania State University which has the greatest number of undergraduate degrees in computer and information sciences in the U.S. It produces around 600 degreed IT students per year, which doesn’t really sound like a lot when you consider the amount of demand in the workforce. The following lists provide a ranking of the top colleges for bachelor and graduate degrees awarded in computer and information sciences to help companies target these graduates.
Top 25 Colleges for Information Technology & Computer Science Bachelor Degrees
| College | Location | Annual Bachelor Degrees in Computer & Information Sciences |
|---|---|---|
| Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus | University Park, PA | 605 |
| University of Michigan-Ann Arbor | Ann Arbor, MI | 408 |
| Indiana University-Bloomington | Bloomington, IN | 397 |
| Rochester Institute of Technology | Rochester, NY | 386 |
| The University of Texas at Austin | Austin, TX | 376 |
| University of Maryland-College Park | College Park, MD | 371 |
| George Mason University | Fairfax, VA | 370 |
| University of Maryland-Baltimore County | Baltimore, MD | 369 |
| Rutgers University-New Brunswick | New Brunswick, NJ | 349 |
| Kennesaw State University | Kennesaw, GA | 345 |
| Purdue University-Main Campus | West Lafayette, IN | 331 |
| University of Washington-Seattle Campus | Seattle, WA | 330 |
| Arizona State University-Tempe | Tempe, AZ | 328 |
| Georgia State University | Atlanta, GA | 312 |
| University of Central Florida | Orlando, FL | 308 |
| University of California-San Diego | La Jolla, CA | 304 |
| Florida State University | Tallahassee, FL | 294 |
| Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus | Atlanta, GA | 288 |
| University of California-Berkeley | Berkeley, CA | 286 |
| University of California-Irvine | Irvine, CA | 284 |
| University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | Champaign, IL | 275 |
| University of Minnesota-Twin Cities | Minneapolis, MN | 275 |
| University of California-Santa Cruz | Santa Cruz, CA | 273 |
| University of Massachusetts-Lowell | Lowell, MA | 268 |
| The University of Texas at Dallas | Richardson, TX | 264 |
Top 25 Colleges for Information Technology & Computer Science Graduate Degrees
| College | Location | Annual Graduate Degrees in Computer & Information Sciences |
|---|---|---|
| Carnegie Mellon University | Pittsburgh, PA | 995 |
| The University of Texas at Dallas | Richardson, TX | 760 |
| New York University | New York, NY | 751 |
| University of Southern California | Los Angeles, CA | 663 |
| DePaul University | Chicago, IL | 480 |
| University at Buffalo | Buffalo, NY | 431 |
| North Carolina State University at Raleigh | Raleigh, NC | 393 |
| University of Illinois at Springfield | Springfield, IL | 384 |
| Boston University | Boston, MA | 344 |
| Illinois Institute of Technology | Chicago, IL | 327 |
| Northeastern University | Boston, MA | 323 |
| Stevens Institute of Technology | Hoboken, NJ | 323 |
| University of Washington-Seattle Campus | Seattle, WA | 319 |
| George Mason University | Fairfax, VA | 306 |
| New Jersey Institute of Technology | Newark, NJ | 305 |
| Arizona State University-Tempe | Tempe, AZ | 287 |
| Johns Hopkins University | Baltimore, MD | 287 |
| University of Florida | Gainesville, FL | 278 |
| George Washington University | Washington, DC | 278 |
| Columbia University in the City of New York | New York, NY | 276 |
| Syracuse University | Syracuse, NY | 263 |
| Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus | Atlanta, GA | 258 |
| Texas A&M University-Kingsville | Kingsville, TX | 256 |
| Rochester Institute of Technology | Rochester, NY | 251 |
Conclusions
The need for tech workers is here to stay. These workers are the key to driving innovation across all industries. The U.S. has some of the best colleges in the world so understanding where to find this talent can be critical as you seek to expand your company in a strategic location. For additional research on this topic, you can download our latest whitepaper on U.S. Tech City Ranking Report or contact one of Site Selection Group’s experts at www.siteselectiongroup.com.
