Atlanta stands out as a strong tech-job creator and tech talent attractor, with more than 20, 500 more tech jobs than graduates, behind only San Francisco, Dallas and Seattle. With a rate of 48.9%, Atlanta ranked third among the top markets for education attainment, behind Seattle and Washington, DC.

Out of the large tech talent markets, Atlanta attained the fifth-highest increase of Millennials with a 9.3% increase since 2010. This equates to 19.2% of total growth in a population of 463,875.

Atlanta has the 18th lowest rent-to-tech wage (14.4%), meaning those employed in the tech industry in Atlanta spend less of their earnings on rent than those in other large markets such as Boston (24.9%), San Francisco (27.2%), Los Angeles (27.8%) or New York (30.8%). Additionally, Atlanta saw the eighth highest increase in tech wages (15.7 percent) from 2011 to 2016.

“Atlanta's strong base of fast growing tech talent is a key piece of a larger puzzle suggesting Atlanta is in a strong place as a tech ecosystem,” Devlin says. “One of the other factors worth highlighting is the increasing interaction between Atlanta's large corporates and the tech and startup communities, evidenced by the launch of Tech Square Venture's Engage, a venture that is both an investment fund and tech accelerator, backed by 10 major Atlanta based corporations. While we have already seen incredible growth in Atlanta's tech sector, the combination of trends like this along with Atlanta's strong and growing tech talent based suggest that Atlanta may well still be in the early stages of its rise as a prominent tech city, and that we likely have some very exciting things ahead of us in the coming years.”

(Technology is playing an ever-increasing role in commercial real estate. Get one guru's take.)

ATLANTA—Atlanta moved up four spots to claim a spot as a top five market on CBRE's Tech Talent Scorecard. The top 10-ranked cities on the Tech Talent Scorecard were all large markets, each with a tech labor pool of more than 50,000. The San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, New York, Washington, DC, Atlanta, Toronto, Raleigh-Durham, Austin, Boston and Dallas-Fort Worth made up the top 10.

The report finds strong demand for talent that offer specific skills, such as software development, coupled with a tight labor supply, is driving companies to locate in markets with the largest concentrations of high quality talent. And while value is a key driver when it comes to choosing an office location, companies are showing that they are willing to pay a premium to access the highest quality tech talent.

“One of the things that stands out among the top tech growth markets is affordability,” Christian Devlin, a vice president of CBRE, tells GlobeSt.com. “In addition to strong education infrastructure, and a high quality of life, Atlanta provides not only affordable living but also a relatively low cost of doing business. It continues to be on one of the most affordable and compelling cities for technology companies to grow and thrive in.”

With a growth rate of 47.6% from 2011 to 2016, Atlanta fell behind only Raleigh-Durham (51.3%) and the San Francisco Bay Area (49.9%). Fueling the labor growth, Atlanta added 43,000 tech jobs and has seen a 30% increase in tech degree completions since 2011.

Atlanta stands out as a strong tech-job creator and tech talent attractor, with more than 20, 500 more tech jobs than graduates, behind only San Francisco, Dallas and Seattle. With a rate of 48.9%, Atlanta ranked third among the top markets for education attainment, behind Seattle and Washington, DC.

Out of the large tech talent markets, Atlanta attained the fifth-highest increase of Millennials with a 9.3% increase since 2010. This equates to 19.2% of total growth in a population of 463,875.

Atlanta has the 18th lowest rent-to-tech wage (14.4%), meaning those employed in the tech industry in Atlanta spend less of their earnings on rent than those in other large markets such as Boston (24.9%), San Francisco (27.2%), Los Angeles (27.8%) or New York (30.8%). Additionally, Atlanta saw the eighth highest increase in tech wages (15.7 percent) from 2011 to 2016.

“Atlanta's strong base of fast growing tech talent is a key piece of a larger puzzle suggesting Atlanta is in a strong place as a tech ecosystem,” Devlin says. “One of the other factors worth highlighting is the increasing interaction between Atlanta's large corporates and the tech and startup communities, evidenced by the launch of Tech Square Venture's Engage, a venture that is both an investment fund and tech accelerator, backed by 10 major Atlanta based corporations. While we have already seen incredible growth in Atlanta's tech sector, the combination of trends like this along with Atlanta's strong and growing tech talent based suggest that Atlanta may well still be in the early stages of its rise as a prominent tech city, and that we likely have some very exciting things ahead of us in the coming years.”

(Technology is playing an ever-increasing role in commercial real estate. Get one guru's take.)