Press Releases

State ranks sixth in tech employment, sixth in innovation

Richmond, Va. – Virginia’s technology industry added more than 4,100 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 291,312 workers, Virginia ranks sixth among the 50 states for tech industry employment.

Technology occupations across all other industries in Virginia – the second component of the tech workforce – reached an estimated 279,500 in 2016.

The tech sector accounts for an estimated 10.7 percent ($51.3 billion) of the Virginia economy.

The annualized average wage for a Virginia tech industry worker was an estimated $112,000 in 2016, 107 percent higher than the average state wage ($54,200). Virginia ranks seventh nationally in average tech industry wages.

Other Key Findings

• Virginia ranks sixth 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 21,238 tech business establishments.
• The tech industry employs an estimated 7.7 percent of the overall state workforce.
• Leading tech occupations include application software developers (36,230), systems software developers (27,270) and computer systems analysts (25,820).
• The strongest year-over-year job growth occurred in the category of computer systems design and IT services (+ 4.5 percent).
• Employers posted an estimated 32,579 job openings for tech occupations in Q4 2016.

“The Cyberstates data affirms the strength and vitality of Virginia’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