The top 9 cities tech talent is moving to — and 9 places they're leaving
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- New York, Austin, and LA were the top cities tech talent moved to in 2023, according to a report.
- San Francisco, Seattle, and Boston lost the greatest share of relocating tech workers.
- Several places attracting tech workers are "blue island" cities in red states.
Tech talent making moves aren't just ending up in Austin and Miami.
In fact, the No. 1 place tech workers moved to in 2023 was New York City, according to a recent SignalFire report.
While the San Francisco Bay Area is still the center of the tech world, a migration of tech employees out of California has continued since the rise in remote work.
Among tech workers who relocated last year, the most common states for them to end up included New York, Texas, California, and Florida, according to the SignalFire report.
The top nine cities tech workers relocated to were:
New York City, New York
Austin, Texas
Los Angeles, California
Denver, Colorado
San Diego, California
Miami/Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas
Nashville, Tennessee
Tampa/St. Petersburg, Florida
New York had a net gain in tech talent of about 3.5%, while Austin had a gain of about 1.5%. In third was Los Angeles, with a net gain of around 0.5%
Meanwhile, the nine cities tech workers moved away from were:
San Francisco, California
Seattle, Washington
Boston, Massachusetts
Phoenix, Arizona
Washington, DC
Sacramento, California
Portland, Oregon
Detroit, Michigan
Provo, Utah
San Francisco saw a net loss in tech talent of over 3.5%, while Seattle lost just under 2.5%, and Boston lost more than 0.5 percent.
Fifteen percent of all tech employees who moved between 2023 and 2024 went to New York, according to the report. New York drew a significant share of the tech workers who relocated from San Francisco, Boston, and Seattle, among other cities.
The trend of people moving out of San Francisco and California, generally, to cities in Texas and Florida, has been partially explained by a desire to escape high costs of living. But New York City managed to draw the biggest share of tech workers who moved last year despite its high housing prices and cost of living.
Several of the cities attracting tech workers also happen to be "blue island" cities located in red states, such as Austin, Nashville, Tampa, and Miami.
In addition to the cities in the report, there are also smaller cities across the US that have growing tech scenes, including places in Utah, Idaho, and Arkansas.