Press Releases

State ranks 22^nd in tech employment, 7^th in innovation

Salt Lake City – Utah’s technology industry added more than 4,900 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 87,234 workers, Utah ranks 22^nd among the 50 states for tech industry employment.

Technology occupations across all other industries in Utah – the second component of the tech workforce – reached an estimated 75,800 in 2016.

The tech sector accounts for an estimated 8.4 percent ($12.3 billion) of the Utah economy.

The annualized average wage for a tech industry worker in Utah was an estimated $81,400 in 2016, 82 percent higher than the average state wage ($44,600). Utah ranks 31^st nationally in average tech industry wages.

Other Key Findings

• Utah ranks seventh 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 6,325 tech business establishments.
• The tech industry employs an estimated 6.4 percent of the overall state workforce.
• Leading tech occupations include application software developers (9,370), computer user support specialists (8,170) and computer systems analysts (4,010).
• The strongest year-over-year job growth occurred in the categories of packaged software (+ 14.5 percent), telecommunications services (+ 13.5 percent) and computer systems design and IT services (+ 8 percent).
• Employers posted an estimated 6,114 job openings for tech occupations in Q4 2016.

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

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
pgrisham@comptia.org
(202) 862-4458

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