Report: Top Markets for Tech Talent, Market briefs

In Houston, Houston moved up slightly in the top 50 ranking of markets for tech talent in the U.S. and Canada as the Bayou City posted gains in tech wages and jobs.

The San Francisco Bay Area was again the number one market in CBRE’s Scoring Tech Talent report, followed by Seattle, Toronto, New York Metro, Austin, Washington, D.C., Boston, Dallas-Fort Worth, Vancouver, and Waterloo Region.

The CBRE report analyzed labor market conditions, costs, and quality in North America for highly skilled tech workers across more than 20 occupations. Metros were ranked using 13 metrics to measure each market’s depth, vitality, and attractiveness to both companies and employees. Metrics that were more important to job creation and innovation were given more weight in the calculations.

Texas City Rankings

Houston ranked No. 32, up from No. 33 last year. The tech talent workforce totaled 104,080 in 2025, representing 3.2% of the total workforce. Job growth in the tech sector grew by 7.3% over the last three years.

Tech talent in Houston made an average wage of $120,216 in 2025, up 13.3% from 2022, as stated by the study.

Dallas-Fort Worth, which ranked No. 8 overall, was among the markets adding the most tech jobs. The North Texas metroplex added 37,230 jobs from 2023 to 2025, representing a growth rate of 19%. In total, Dallas had 236,620 tech talent jobs representing 5.8% of the workforce. Toronto led for job growth with 75,000, up 27% during the period.

Austin, which ranked No. 5, had a tech talent workforce of 103,210 in 2025, up 10.2% since 2023 and representing 8% of the total workforce.

Austin was among metros with the biggest shares of tech talent with AI-specialty skills (17%). San Francisco led with 26% of tech talent possessing AI-specialty skills, followed by Seattle (20%), Boston (17%), and New York Metro (17%).

Top Cities for AI Jobs

The study found that AI jobs are mostly clustered in a few cities and are generating demand for office space. In the U.S., 37% of AI jobs are located in the San Francisco Bay Area, New York City, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.

Demand for AI-related skills increased the size of the AI workforce by 45% over the year to 751,000 across the U.S. and Canada as of mid-2026, as stated by CBRE. Houston has 11,709 AI-related tech talent jobs.

Texas: High Marks for Affordability

Affordable rents took a relatively small share of the Texas technology workers’ paychecks, the study found.

Houston and other Texas cities were among the most affordable for tech employees based on the average apartment rent to tech salary ratio, as stated by CBRE. Average apartment rents in the state’s four largest cities have fallen in the last three years, with Austin experiencing the biggest drop of 19% to $1,409.

The Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth ratios were 13.6% and 13.9% respectively, and Austin and San Antonio were even lower. Manhattan was the least affordable with a rent to tech salary ratio of 28.7%. Generally, spending 30% of income on housing indicates affordability.

Comparing Company Costs

Even though remote and hybrid work are common, companies still place a high value on specific office submarkets and even certain streets convenient to tech talent, as stated by CBRE.

In Houston, several office buildings are on the drawing boards as companies seek the very best locations and amenities. Houston has a 26% office vacancy rate, as stated by CBRE.

The markets commanding the highest office rents are Manhattan San Francisco Bay Area, South Florida, Boston, and Austin, as stated by CBRE.

All-in costs including wages and rent vary widely by market, as stated by the CBRE study.

The total annual labor and real estate cost for the typical 500-person tech company occupying 60,000 SF of office space was highest in the San Francisco Bay Area at $91 million. That compares with $62.5 million in Austin, $59.4 million in D-FW, and $56.3 million in Houston.