Tech Talk

Austin's one of the best places for tech jobs, but salaries are the worst

NerdWallet ranks the Austin metro area the No. 9 best place for tech jobs.

It's no surprise that Austin finds itself on yet another list of America's best tech cities. But how we compare to the nation's other top tech meccas may surprise you.

To determine the best places for tech jobs in 2015, NerdWallet analyzed the nation's 370 largest metropolitan areas, based on the size of the tech industry and average income for tech jobs. Coming in at No. 1 on the list is the heart of Silicon Valley: San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California. Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, affectionately dubbed "Silicon Hills," ranks No. 9.

"Due to venture capital interest and a wealth of incubators and accelerators, startups thrive in the Austin area, where about 58 of every 1,000 jobs are in tech," writes the financial website. That's much higher than the national average of 18 tech jobs for every 1,000 employees.

Perhaps the surprising takeaway from NerdWallet's study is how Austin's tech salaries measure up to the other hot spots on the list.

"The area’s tech workers see the lowest salaries on our list at just over $84,300 a year," says NerdWallet. In comparison, Silicon Valley tech employees earn an average salary of $130,179.80.

The study includes rankings for four other Texas metro areas. Dallas-Plano-Irving comes in just behind Austin on the list at No. 11. Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown ranks No. 36, followed by Fort Worth-Arlington (No. 75) and San Antonio-New Braunfels (No. 88).

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Power Up

$1.4 billion Texas project to match 446,000 cars in clean energy yearly

Photo courtesy of SMECI

The San Miguel Electric Cooperative has received a major investment for clean energy.

The United States Department of Agriculture recently announced that San Miguel Electric Cooperative Inc., located in Christine, Texas, in Atascosa County, just outside of San Antonio, will transition its operations to produce 600 megawatts of energy using solar panels and a battery energy storage system (BESS).

The project is expected to reduce climate pollution by 1.8 tons annually, the equivalent to removing 446,000 cars from the road each year, says USDA.

The project with the San Miguel Electric Cooperative plans to use the more than $1.4 billion investment to procure 600 megawatts of renewable energy through solar voltaic panels and a battery energy storage system to power 47 counties across rural South Texas. The clean project also hopes to support as many as 600 jobs.

This is part of the more than $4.37 billion in clean energy investments through the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Empowering Rural America (New ERA) Program, which has rural electric cooperatives supporting the economy via job creation, lowering electricity costs for businesses and families, and reducing climate pollution. The New ERA was made possible by President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, which was the largest investment in rural electrification since President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Rural Electrification Act into law in 1936.

San Miguel plans to convert its operations to a 400-megawatt solar generation facility and 200-megawatt battery storage facility, and the transition should be complete by 2027. Currently, San Miguel produces 391 megawatts of electricity through a contract with South Texas Electric Cooperative (STEC).

“USDA is committed to enhancing the quality of life and improving air and water in our rural communities,” Secretary Tom Vilsack says in a news release. “The Inflation Reduction Act’s historic investments enable USDA to partner with rural electric cooperatives to strengthen America’s energy security and lower electricity bills for hardworking families, farmers and small business owners.”

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This story originally appeared on our sister site, EnergyCapitalHTX.com.

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