CBRE: Houston Lags Behind Austin and Dallas in Tech Talent Growth
Erin Morales
HOUSTON – (By Kyle Hagerty for Realty News Report) – Tech jobs, a major driver of office space demand in the 21st century, are powering some of the nation’s most active office markets. A new report from commercial real estate leader CBRE shows that Houston, the largest city in Texas, which has often trailed Austin and Dallas, is slipping further behind.
Austin stands out as a top hub for tech talent, ranking sixth in CBRE’s Tech Talent Scorecard. The city has 72,360 tech jobs in a metro area with fewer than one million residents, representing 7% of its workforce—nearly double the tech job concentration of New York City. That strong talent base is matched by significant office development capacity: Austin has roughly 25,860,323 square feet of planned or proposed commercial office space.
Dallas, with a much larger metropolitan population, also supports a substantial tech workforce. The Dallas/Fort Worth area employs about 169,290 people in tech roles, making up just over 4% of its labor force and earning the region the 11th position on CBRE’s Tech Talent Scorecard.
Houston, however, ranks 34th. The city supports about 95,640 tech jobs, which constitute roughly 3% of its overall workforce. That gap matters because Austin and Dallas are expanding more rapidly: tech jobs in Austin are increasing at a 12.6% rate, while Dallas is growing even faster at 15.7%. Houston’s tech employment growth sits at 3.1%, meaning the city falls further behind each year as Austin and Dallas draw more tech companies and talent.
“Demand from tech companies shows no sign of slowing and we are now seeing employers with a large tech workforce targeting submarkets outside traditional Austin tech hubs, such as east and south, in addition to continued demand in Austin’s Central Business District,” said Erin Morales, Senior Vice President at CBRE in Austin and a member of the firm’s Tech and Media Practice.
Houston is responding to the challenge. City leaders have partnered with institutions like Rice University and the Texas Medical Center to develop an Innovation Corridor around the former Midtown Sears site, now known as The Ion, aiming to create the dense, collaborative environment that attracts tech talent. Local initiatives—including the Houston Technology Center, Houston Exponential, and the Mayor’s Technology and Innovation Task Force—have worked to stimulate tech growth, though they have not yet produced the transformative results city officials hoped for.
To close the gap with Austin and Dallas, Houston must accelerate its efforts to grow tech employment, support startup and scale-up ecosystems, and expand office development that meets the needs of modern technology firms. Without faster growth, the city risks losing further ground as competing Texas metros continue to attract talent and investment.
