the new tech cities
2 Dallas neighbors rank among top 10 best U.S. cities for tech workers
North Texas has two of the top cities for tech workers.
Gaining and maintaining a level of success in the ever-changing tech industry often hinges on the environment one lives and works in, and two North Texas cities are among the best: Plano and Frisco.
Plano's new elite tech city status comes from a new report "The Top Tech Cities in the US: Ranking 100 Cities in 2024" by online security experts Cloudwards. They examined 100 tech-reliant cities in the nation across 17 key indicators, including salaries for information technology professionals, a city's cost of living, internet quality, job opportunities and tech-related companies, and more.
Plano is the No. 4 best tech city in the nation and the best in Texas (event outshining Austin, which ranked No. 7). Frisco came in at No. 10.
Here's how Plano stacked up in the major categories in the study:
- No. 1 – Internet Coverage and Quality
- No. 2 – Cost of Living and Tech Salaries
- No. 25 – Innovation and Entrepreneurship
- No. 33 – Career and Education
- No. 59 – Tech Community
With a lot of employers still embracing remote work, having a good wifi connection can make or break a person's ability to work from home. The study found about 96 percent of Plano households have internet access, which is a must in today's internet-dependent workforce. The city has the best internet download speeds in the nation, at 216.25 Mbps, while the city's median broadband internet speed is 249.02 Mbps.
IT professionals in Plano make an average salary of $95,733 per year, which is another attractive selling point for the city and its livability factor, the study said.
"...Plano offers a perfect blend of urban and suburban, and it’s a great place to live, start a family or retire," the report's author wrote. "The city ranks high in the livability index, emerging second overall due to low crime rates and a relatively low cost of living."
Plano wasn't the only North Texas city to earn a spot among the top 10. Frisco ranked No. 10 in the nation, earning the title as "the most livable city in the U.S." according to Cloudwards.
"IT professionals make up the second-largest occupation set in this North Texas city, making up about 12 percent of the total workforce," the report said. "Its low tax rate, low crime rate and reasonable cost of living make it a popular choice for IT professionals."
Average salaries for IT professionals in Frisco come out to about $95,516 annually, which is only a $217 difference from Plano. Frisco also has a lower crime rate than Plano, at 10.56 per 1,000 residents, compared to Plano's 18.3 per 1,000 residents.
In a separate recent study, Frisco had the second largest remote workforce in the U.S.
Here's how other North Texas cities fared outside the top 10:
- No. 16 – Arlington
- No. 21 – Garland
- No. 29 – Fort Worth
- No. 33 – Dallas
- No. 38 – Irving
