San Diego
San Diego has become one of the top technology hubs in the country, according to a report from Cushman & Wakefield, which ranks the city ninth in the nation for its concentration of technology jobs. It's a nice place to be. Technology industries contribute to local economic growth, office leasing and wage growth. The technology sector accounts for nearly 9% of total employment in San Diego.
Tech companies need access to capital and access to high-quality labor, and San Diego offers both. "Employment in technology industries, educated workforce and millennial population along with venture capital investment in the region are among the attributes that have placed San Diego on the top 10 U.S. tech markets list," Jolanta Campion, research director for San Diego at Cushman & Wakefield, tells GlobeSt.com. As a result, the city has captured a broad swath of technology sectors, including cybersecurity, aerospace, navigation and maritime, software, health IT, bioinformatics and cleantech, all of which contribute to the tech job density in the market.
These industries have had a substantial impact on the local economy. Campion estimates that research institutions contribute $4.6 billion in local economy, while the regions scientific R&D cluster represent $14.4 billion. "With established companies including Qualcomm and Intuit, as well as many innovative startups, San Diego firms are developing unique technologies that have global impact," she says.
While San Diego is ranked ninth in terms of overall tech jobs, its science and engineering sector has the second highest concentration of jobs in the nation with a total of 63,000 professionals.
Tech jobs have grown 26% over the last decade, an addition of 28,000 jobs, outpacing the nation, which has had an increase of 24% in tech jobs over the last decade. However, the share of technology jobs compared to total employment has remained unchanged from 2018 to 2019. "Notably, the U.S. market average of tech as a proportion of total employment was 5% or 7.5 million jobs in 2019 compared to 4.9% or 7.3 million jobs in 2018," says Campion.
San Diego's disproportionately large millennial population has also helped to attract technology companies. Millennials account for 24% of the region's workforce, and more than half of the population in San Diego is younger than 39 years old. As a result, San Diego is ranked seven in the nation of metros with the highest concentrations of millennials.
These market characteristics not only attract tech companies but tech capital as well. In the last decade, venture capital investors have placed $15.6 billion in San Diego companies, an average of $390 million per quarter. Healthcare, life sciences and medical device companies have received $9.2 billion of that funding. "Venture capital firms, a critical fuel behind the tech sector, expanded funding during the latest 12-month, investing over $2.8 billion across all industries, an increase of 10.9% year-over-year," adds Campion. In Q1 2020, the region attracted $574 million, up 109% compared to $274 million invested in Q1 2019."
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Kelsi Maree Borland
