CompTIA, The nonprofit association for the information technology industry and workforce, has released its annual State of the Tech Workforce for 2022.

Some Facts From the Report

The report shows that there were gains in tech employment in all 50 states. Nationally, net tech employment rose by 3.2%, which is an increase of about 286,400 workers.

There are two types of workers included in the data used for this report. Technical workers and the non-technical workers employed by tech companies.

Although Silicon Valley is still an important tech hub, 86% of the growth is occurring in other areas around the country.

Texas Leads in Tech Job Creation

Texas added more tech workers than any other state, an estimated 45,331 jobs, followed by California, Florida, New York and Washington for the top five. Net tech employment grew by 5.5% in Texas in 2022, with an increase of about 45,331 workers. CompTIA is forecasting a 4.4% increase in tech jobs for Texas in 2023.

Overall, there are 867,278 people working in tech in Texas, including those employed by tech companies, and tech professionals who work in other industries. That is 6.2% of the entire workforce in the state and represents the second largest tech workforce in the entire country. The median wage for these workers is 123% higher than the median wage for all occupations across the Lone Star State.

In 2022, 2,310 tech businesses opened in Texas, bringing the tech business total to 44,330. These businesses represent 7.7% of the state’s economy.

Some of the occupations that are projected to see the most growth in Texas in 2023 include software development, programming, web development, quality assurance, cybersecurity, and IT project management.

CompTIA measures workforce diversity using seven race and ethnicity groups that are defined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Texas is in the first quartile, and women make up 26% of the tech workforce.

“In a year of even more uncertainty than usual, the tech labor market routinely defied expectations,” said Tim Herbert, chief research officer for CompTIA. “The data continues to confirm the degree to which technology underpins so many facets of business activity across the economy and the breadth of employers reliant on technical and digital skills.”

Texas Leads in Other Ways, Too

Tech jobs aren’t the only place Texas leads the rest of the states. Texas saw the largest gain in nonfarm payroll employment in 2022. In January 2023, Texas surpassed its own all-time record for total jobs for the 16th consecutive month.

Texas has a more affordable cost of living than the national average. Housing is more affordable, and there is no state income tax. Add the warm climate and great schools at all levels of education and impressive jobs growth and Texas sounds like an all-around great place to live and work.