Press Releases

State ranks 21^st in tech employment, 8^th in innovation

Salem, Ore. – Oregon’s technology industry employment grew by nearly 4 percent in 2016, adding an estimated 3,550 new jobs, according to Cyberstates 2017™, the definitive annual analysis of the nation’s tech industry released today by CompTIA, the world’s leading technology association.

With an estimated 95,307 workers, Oregon ranks 21^st among the 50 states in tech industry employment.

Technology occupations across all other industries in Oregon – the second component of the tech workforce – reached an estimated 99,000 in 2016.

The tech sector accounts for a robust 18 percent ($39.2 billion) of the overall Oregon economy.

The annualized average wage for a tech industry worker in Oregon was an estimated $107,100 in 2016, 119 percent higher than the average state wage ($49,000). Oregon ranks ninth nationally in average tech industry wages.

Other Key Findings

• Oregon ranks eighth among all states in the Cyberstates 2017 Innovation Score, which is based on an analysis of new tech patents, tech startups and new tech business establishments on a per capita basis.
• The state is home to an estimated 6,800 tech business establishments. About 4,850 of those businesses are located in the Portland metropolitan area.
• The tech industry employs an estimated 5.2 percent of the overall state workforce.
• Leading tech occupations include application software developers (11,010) and computer user support specialists (7,930).
• The strongest year-over-year job growth occurred in the categories of computer systems design and IT services (+ 6.6 percent), semiconductor manufacturing (+ 6 percent) and engineering services (+ 4 percent).
• Employers posted more than 11,100 job openings for tech occupations in Q4 2016. About 9,500 of those postings were in the Portland market.

“The Cyberstates data affirms the strength and vitality of Oregon’s tech industry, and attests to its essential standing in the economy,” said Todd Thibodeaux, president and CEO, CompTIA. “Technology enables innovation and generates growth for companies, regardless of their size, locale or markets served.”

Cyberstates 2017 is based on CompTIA’s analysis of data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, EMSI, and other sources. Estimates for 2016 are subject to change as government data is revised and updated. The complete report with full national, state and metropolitan level data is available at http://www.cyberstates.org/.

CompTIA: Building the Foundation for Technology's Future

The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) is the world's leading technology association, with approximately 2,000 member companies, 3,000 academic and training partners, over 100,000 registered users and more than two million IT certifications issued. CompTIA's unparalleled range of programs foster workforce skills development and generate critical knowledge and insight – building the foundation for technology’s future. Visit CompTIA online, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to learn more. 

Contact:
Preston Grisham
CompTIA
[email protected]
(202) 862-4458

Steven Ostrowski
CompTIA
[email protected]
(630) 678-8468