The US technology industry added 182,220 jobs in 2016 for an estimated total of 6.9 million jobs, according to a report released by CompTIA. The tech sector makes up 7.5% of the total GDP; it accounted for approximately 4.4% of the overall US workforce in 2016 and 5.2% of the private sector workforce.
Growth was again led by IT services and custom software services, which added 108,930 jobs between 2015 and 2016, according to CompTIA. Next was the engineering services, R&D, and testing sector, which added 32,970 jobs.
The annualized average wage for a tech industry worker was an estimated $108,900 in 2016, more than double the average national wage of $53,040.
“Tech sector employment outpaces other notable segments of the economy, including construction, finance and insurance, transportation and warehousing, and arts, entertainment and recreation,” said Tim Herbert, senior VP, research and market intelligence, CompTIA. “Digital transformation continues to be a driving force. Organizations of all sizes are embracing cloud-based technology solutions, expanding their mobile presence, fortifying cyber defenses and driving decision-making through advanced data analysis.”
CompTIA also looked at tech employment by state. The largest jobs gains were recorded in:
- California: +48,580
- New York: +11,210
- North Carolina: +11,090
- Texas: +11,060
- Michigan: +10,730
The states with the highest concentration of tech workers in private sector employment were:
- Massachusetts: 9.9%
- Colorado: 9.3%
- Virginia: 9.5%
- California: 8.4%
- Washington: 8.6%
California, Texas and New York remained the largest states by tech industry employment.
