Washington, D.C. is U.S. second cybercity by high-tech employment

The high-tech industry in the Washington, D.C. region added 6,100 jobs for a total of 295,800 workers in 2006, making the capital region the second largest “cybercity” by high-tech employment, behind only the New York metro area, the American Electronics Association said in a report released on Tuesday. The nation’s capital also has the fifth highest concentration of high-tech workers in the nation, according to the most current metropolitan data available. High-tech firms employed 132 of every 1,000 private sector workers in 2006. The jobs are high paying too — the average tech sector worker in Washington, D.C. earned $92,700, about 67 percent more than the region’s average private sector wage. Ninety-five percent of Washington’s high-tech industry is in the services sectors, AeA noted in its report. The area ranked first in the nation by employment in computer systems design and related services, with 137,100 workers in 2006. It also ranked first in engineering services, with 44,400 jobs, and 2nd in R&D and testing labs, with 40,200 jobs. “This proliferation of high technology products and services, when combined with business transformation, produces more efficient government operations and a more effective and competitive commercial environment,” said Jeffrey Holmes, director of consulting firm PRTM. “This area is unique in that it can meld the superb capabilities of the commercial sector with federal, state, and local governments to create public-private partnerships that are able to address many significant issues affecting our region and the nation at large.”

Rounding out the top five cybercities by high-tech employment in 2006 were San Jose/Silicon Valley, Boston, and Dallas-Fort Worth. The nation’s highest tech industry concentration was in San Jose/Silicon Valley, where more than one in four private sector workers were employed by the tech industry. Seattle saw the largest tech industry employment growth, adding 7,800 jobs in 2006.