By the numbers
New report shows how much it pays to work in tech in Dallas-Fort Worth
It truly pays to work in the tech sector in DFW.
A report published January 11 by Austin-based tech company Spanning Cloud Apps LLC shows workers in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area can more than double their pay when they hold down a tech job. In fact, DFW ranks fourth among the country's largest metro areas for the pay advantage in tech occupations versus all occupations.
According to the report, the median annual pay for a Dallas-area tech job stood at $91,760 in 2019. By comparison, the median annual pay for all occupations sat at $40,430. That puts the area's median tech pay 127 percent higher than the median pay for all occupations, giving DFW a No. 4 ranking in that category.
No wonder some are calling Dallas-Fort Worth "the new Silicon Valley."
DFW comes in just ahead of two other Lone Star hot spots: Houston, at 124.8 percent, ranks fifth, and San Antonio, at 124.7 percent, ranks sixth in terms of the pay premium offered by tech jobs. At No. 27 is Austin, with a 106.1 percent pay premium for tech jobs.
As for median tech pay, DFW ($91,760) claims the No. 12 spot among large metro areas. Meanwhile, Houston is in 15th place ($91,190), Austin is in 24th place ($85,640), and San Antonio is in 30th place ($81,870).
The report identifies 158,490 tech workers in the Metroplex, putting DFW fifth among large metro areas, with Houston at No. 15 (84,040), Austin at No. 18 (66,800), and San Antonio at No. 35 (28,200).
The spanning report, which is based on data collected by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, shows 4.3 percent of DFW employees work in computer and math occupations, 13th among large metros.
Austin ranks sixth (6.2 percent), but Houston and San Antonio come in at the bottom of the pile — No. 41 (2.8 percent) and No. 42 (2.7 percent), respectively.
San Jose, California, takes the No. 1 spot, with 12.7 percent of employees working in computer and math occupations.
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A version of this story first appeared on our sister site, InnovationMap.