Tech News

Austin computes No. 1 ranking among America's top metros for tech jobs

Austin aerial skyline with bridges and Lady Bird Lake

Austin continues to top the list for one-year and five-year projected growth in tech jobs

Ryan Conine/Getty Images

For the third year in a row, Austin ranks first on a closely watched list of the best places in the U.S. for tech jobs.

For the latest version of its Tech Town Index, CompTIA, a trade group for the tech industry, looked at 20 metros with populations over 250,000 where demand for tech workers is highest. The metros were then ranked based on cost of living, number of postings for open tech positions in 2021, and projected job growth over both the next 12 months and next five years.

Austin landed at No. 1 again this year, followed in descending order by San Jose, California; Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas; Atlanta, Georgia; and Huntsville, Alabama. No other Texas metro appears in the top 10.

CompTIA says the Austin area offers “an attractive combination of opportunity, affordability, and good old-fashioned real estate that keeps technology companies — and talent — flocking to the Lone Star State’s capital city.”

Last year, 64,481 technology job openings were posted in the Austin area, according to CompTIA. The group says Austin continues to top the list for one-year (3.75 percent) and five-year (13.9 percent) projected growth in tech jobs. Companies like Deloitte, Dell Technologies, General Motors, and IBM are among the top recruiters of tech pros in the metro area.

CompTIA poses the question of whether Austin can keep up its current pace of growth as a tech hub.

“Many believe it can. Experts cite ideal conditions for business creation like access to capital, skilled workers, and affordable office space as key factors appealing to startups and enterprise companies alike. … But the IT pros who live and work in Austin say that it’s the attention to work-life balance, access to educational opportunities, and the city’s distinctive culture that keep them working in Austin — and feeling wonderfully weird,” CompTIA says.

The Austin area ranked sixth among U.S. metros for the addition of tech jobs last year (1,846), according to CompTIA. Dallas-Fort Worth grabbed the No. 1 spot, adding 5,321 tech jobs in 2021. CompTIA says the Austin area employed 105,355 tech workers last year, with the local tech workforce projected to climb to 107,614 this year. That would be an increase of 2.1 percent.

Dallas-Fort Worth is home to the state’s biggest tech workforce (313,447 workers in 2021, ranked sixth in the country). This year, that figure is expected to rise to 321,138, representing a one-year increase of 2.5 percent.

Houston had 134,436 tech jobs in 2021, CompTIA says. This year’s number is expected to be about the same (134,754). Meanwhile, San Antonio had 49,801 tech jobs last year, with the workforce projected to grow to 50,971 this year.

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Self-driving Roller Coaster

More self-driving cars expected to roll out in Austin for 2025

Photo courtesy of Waymo via KVUE

Various brands offering self-driving cars are on-and-off in Austin.

Expect to see more self-driving rideshare vehicles, also known as robotaxis, on Austin roads next year.

Robotaxi company Waymo, which you may have already seen on Austin's roads, is partnering with Uber. At some point next year, customers will be able to use the Uber app to call a self-driving ride.

Austin-based company Avride is in the testing phase and plans to roll out its robotaxis next year.

Currently, Volkswagen ADMT and Amazon's Zoox are in the testing phase in Austin, while Hyundai's Motional is in the mapping phase.

Last year, robotaxi company Cruise paused operations in Austin after the California Department of Motor Vehicles revoked the company's permits to operate driverless vehicles in the state. And last week, General Motors said it would no longer fund the company because of the time and resources needed.

This way of getting around has come with its safety concerns and issues. The city is tracking those concerns. According to the Transportation Department, the problems span from blocking the roads and parking in front of people's homes for weeks with lights beaming through their windows, to actual wrecks.

Since July 2023, robotaxis have been involved in 75 incidents. Only 21 of those incidents happened in 2024. It's important to note that Cruise has not been operating in Austin this year.

Since July 2023, driverless rideshare vehicles have been involved in 22 near collisions, eight collisions and seven instances where driverless taxis ignored directions from the Austin Police Department (APD).

According to the data, at least four of those Austin police incidents happened in recent months. The issues varied from driving through police checkpoints, to malfunctioning and getting stuck at an APD road closure near pedestrians, causing safety concerns.

A Waymo spokesperson said their vehicles have gesture recognition capabilities, which they've been training APD officers on using.

As the report shows, sometimes it does not work and Waymo said it is working to improve that. The spokesperson said that as of just last week, Waymo's First Responder Program has been independently verified by TÜV SÜD, making Waymo the first autonomous vehicle (AV) company to receive third-party validation for our emergency response protocols. They also said the data to date indicates the Waymo Driver is already reducing traffic injuries and fatalities in the places where the company currently operates.

Read the full story and watch the video at KVUE.com.

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