Press Releases

New Report Details Growth in Chicago Tech Community

Mar 28, 2019

Nearly 6,000 new jobs added in 2018, according to CompTIA Cyberstates 2019

Chicago – Tech-related employment in the Chicago metropolitan area increased by 5,971 new jobs in 2018, according to Cyberstates 2019™,  the definitive guide to tech sector and workforce analytics released this week by CompTIA, the leading technology industry association.

Net tech employment in the Chicago market grew by 1.8 percent last year to an estimated 344,146 workers, or 7.2 percent of the region’s total workforce.[1] More than 52,000 tech-related jobs have been added to the local economy since 2010.

Chicago ranks 8th in net tech employment and 10th in jobs added among the 46 U.S. metropolitan statistical areas covered in the report.

Tech occupations in high demand in the market include software and web developers (+3.3 percent year over year growth) and computer system and cybersecurity analysts (+2.7 percent).

The median tech occupation wage is $82,224; 80 percent higher than the median wage for all occupations.

The tech sector’s contribution to the local economy is estimated at $50.5 billion, equal to about 8.1 percent of the total economy.

The outlook for future employment growth is positive. The Chicago market saw a 73 percent increase in the number of job postings related to emerging technologies.

Cyberstates projects the base of tech occupation employment – a subset of net tech employment – will grow by 3.2 percent in the region by 2026.

Cyberstates 2019 (#cyberstates) is based on CompTIA’s analysis of data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, EMSI, Burning Glass Technologies Labor Insights, and other sources. Estimates for 2018 are subject to change as government data is revised and updated. The full report, with complete national, state and metropolitan level data, is available at https://www.cyberstates.org/.

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About CompTIA
The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) is a leading voice and advocate for the $5 trillion global information technology ecosystem; and the more than 50 million industry and tech professionals who design, implement, manage, and safeguard the technology that powers the world’s economy. Through education, training, certifications, advocacy, philanthropy, and market research, CompTIA is the hub for advancing the tech industry and its workforce. To learn more visit https://www.comptia.org/.

Contact:
Steven Ostrowski
CompTIA
+1 (630) 678-8468
[email protected]­

 



[1] Net tech employment includes tech company workers in technical and non-technical positions, technical workers in other industries and self-employed technology workers.