What Are the Best US Cities to Work in Tech?

A common question among tech workers is “What are the best cities for those who work in tech?” A recent study by software developer marketplace Lemon.io analyzed the most populated 250 cities in America across the following five tech-related metrics: 1. Number of institutes offering computer programs 2. Average graduation rate for tech courses 3. Number of WiFi hotspots in the city 4. Total number of tech jobs available in the city 5. Total number of tech companies that are rated three stars or higher on Glassdoor. The sources for this survey included: nces.ed.gov, wifimap.io, glassdoor.com These factors were then weighted and put into an index to establish which cities in America are really the best to work in tech. Once the weightings were assigned, the total score for the factors was calculated, producing an overall index score out of 100 for each entry, upon which the final ranking is based. Surprising Results The results are somewhat surprising. While the state of California is well-represented among the top 30 cities, with 7, the top-scoring California city is only the 5th highest rated city, and it is NOT San Jose or San Francisco. In fact, the top 5 cities are spread throughout the U.S. Aleksandr Volodarsky, CEO of Lemon.io, said in a statement,“For many, a role in software development, programming, data engineering and more is becoming more and more valuable with the rapid advancements of AI. Having someone in your company or working with your company that can sense-check, build and understand AI and how to use it to better a company or product is more vital than ever. “The cities in the ranking highlight where some of the best tech minds reside and where, if you’re curious about developing these skills then these are the places to do so. The opportunities in these cities are far more than in any other.” You’ll want to check out the following slideshow to see the top 15 cities.