Press Releases

Arizona Technology Industry Added 2,500-Plus Workers in 2016

Apr 3, 2017

CompTIA Cyberstates 2017™ finds state ranks 18th in tech employment, 14th in innovation

Phoenix – Arizona’s technology industry added an estimated 2,545 new jobs in 2016, 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 139,439 workers, Arizona ranks 18th among the 50 states in tech industry employment.

Technology occupations across all other industries in Arizona – the second component of the tech workforce – reached an estimated 153,700 in 2016.

The tech sector accounts for an estimated 8.6 percent ($25.1 billion) of the overall Arizona economy.

The annualized average wage for an Arizona tech industry worker was an estimated $97,400 in 2016, 103 percent higher than the average state wage ($48,000).

Other Key Findings

  • Arizona ranks 14th 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 8,618 tech business establishments. The majority of these establishments (5,871) are in the Phoenix metropolitan area.
  • The tech industry employs an estimated 5.3 percent of the overall state workforce.
  • Leading tech occupations include computer systems analysts (16,240), application software developers (15,250) and computer user support specialists (13,530).
  • The strongest year-over-year job growth occurred in the categories of computer systems design and IT services (+ 9.2 percent), space and defense systems manufacturing (+ 3.2 percent) and telecommunications services (+ 2.2 percent).
  • Employers posted an estimated 13,237 job openings for tech occupations in Q4 2016, with some 10,600 of these openings in the Phoenix metro area.

“The Cyberstates data affirms the strength and vitality of Arizona’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/.

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Contact:

Preston Grisham
CompTIA
pgrisham@comptia.org
(202) 862-4458

Steven Ostrowski
CompTIA
sostrowski@comptia.org
(630) 678-8468