California leads nation in 2012 tech employment

 WASHINGTON, D.C.

May 14, 2013 8:57am

•  State’s tech workers earn highest wage – $123,900

•  “California remains a critical state for the technology industry”

California's tech industry added 17,700 net jobs between 2011 and 2012, for a total of 968,800 jobs, the most tech workers in the nation, according to a report Tuesday from TechAmerica Foundation.

The report, now in its 15th year, looks at tech employment, wages, and other key economic factors nationally and state-by-state.

California’s growth was led by such industry sectors as computer systems design (+9,600) and R&D and testing labs (+4,600).

California continued to lead the nation by most tech industry metrics, including employment, wages, payroll, and establishments. The state’s tech workers had the nation’s highest annual average wage at $123,900, which is 131 percent more than the state’s average private sector wage of $53,600.

 “California remains a critical state for the technology industry,” says Matthew Kazmierczak, vice president of TechAmerica Foundation and author of the report.

He says the tech industry employs some 7.8 percent of California’s private sector workforce.

Nationally, the U.S. tech industry added 67,400 net jobs in 2012, for a total of 5.95 million workers, growing at 1.1 percent, and representing 5.4 percent of the entire private sector workforce. Overall, the average U.S. tech wage was $93,800 compared to $47,700 for the average private sector worker.

The report is based data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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