Raleigh and Durham Add a Combined 3,900 Tech Industry Jobs
Tech Industry Employs 16 Percent of Durham's Workforce and Nine Percent of Raleigh's

Alpharetta, GA (June 24, 2008) – AeA, the nation’s largest technology trade association representing all segments of the high-tech industry, today released Cybercities 2008: An Overview of the High-Technology Industry in the Nation's Top 60 Cities. This detailed report tracks trends in high-tech employment, wages, establishments, payroll, employment concentration, and wage differential at the metropolitan level.

The high-tech employment in the combined metro area of Raleigh and Durham totaled 70,600 in 2006, according to the most current metropolitan data available. This was an increase of 3,900 jobs from the previous year. Individually, Raleigh's tech industry employed 37,100 and Durham's employed 33,500. Both metro areas had high concentrations of tech workers. Durham ranked 4th nationwide by concentration, with 16 percent of its workforce employed by tech firms, while Raleigh ranked 12th by this metric, at 9.5 percent of its workforce employed by tech firms.

These jobs contributed greatly to each of the local economies by paying their workers well. The average annual tech wage in Durham was $95,600 and in Raleigh was $74,300. Both were significantly higher than the average private sector wage in their respective regions.

Durham has a large R&D and testing industry, which employed 8,900 workers in 2006, up by 900 from the previous year. Raleigh has the 10th largest software publishers industry, which employed 5,600 in 2006.

“The Raleigh and Durham metro area isn't called the Research Triangle for nothing. AeA's Cybercities report shows that Raleigh and Durham are high-tech,” said Glen Whitley, Executive Director, AeA Southeast Council. “We have a tremendous amount to offer tech companies. Duke, NC State, and UNC at Chapel Hill all provide strong pipelines of highly qualified workers. Our population is among the most educated in the nation."

"However, one challenge we face is taking advantage of all the brlliant foreign nationals who are educated at our universities,” continued Whitley. "Because of a dysfunctional high skilled visa and green card process, many of them are forced to leave the country, and we lose their skills and abilities. The really unfortunate thing is that they often would prefer to stay in the United States, but instead end up working overseas for our competitors. Our policymakers in Washington need to fix this."

Cybercities 2008 shows that the top five cybercities by high-tech employment in 2006 were the New York Metro Area, Washington, DC, 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.

Later this summer, AeA will release Trade in the Cyberstates 2008: A State-by-State Overview of High-Tech International Trade. That report will look at the most recent data on high-tech exports from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

AeA members can purchase Cybercities 2008 for $125; non-members for $250.  Visit www.aeanet.org/cybercities to download the report, or call 408.987.4200. 

What Does High Tech Mean for a Combined Raleigh and Durham Metro Area?

• 70,600 high tech workers in 2006
   

• 3,900 jobs gained in 2006
   

•  $6.0 billion in high-tech payroll
   

• An average annual high-tech wage of $84,400
   

• 2,800 tech establishments

What Does High Tech Mean for Durham?

• 33,500 high-tech workers in 2006 (36th ranked cybercity)
   
• 2,600 jobs gained between 2005 and 2006 (13th ranked cybercity)
   
• High-tech firms employed 156 of every 1,000 private sector workers in 2006 (4th ranked nationwide)
   
• High-tech workers earned an average wage of $95,600 (7th ranked), or 92 percent more than Durham’s average private sector wage
   
• A high-tech payroll of $3.2 billion in 2006, ranked 29th nationwide
   
• 700 high-tech establishments in 2006, ranked 59th nationwide

Durham’s National Industry Sector Rankings:

• 17th in R&D and testing labs employment with 8,900 jobs
   

• 52nd in computer systems design and related services employment with 3,000 jobs

Notes:

Durham = Chatham, Durham, Orange, and Person Counties in North Carolina

What Does High Tech Mean for Raleigh?

• 37,100 high-tech workers in 2006 (31st ranked cybercity)
   

• 1,200 jobs gained between 2005 and 2006 (27th ranked cybercity)
   

• High-tech firms employed 95 of every 1,000 private sector workers in 2006 (12th ranked nationwide)
   

• High-tech workers earned an average wage of $74,300 (31st ranked), or 81 percent more than Raleigh’s average private sector wage
   

• A high-tech payroll of $2.8 billion in 2006, ranked 33rd nationwide
   

• 2,000 high-tech establishments in 2006, ranked 32nd nationwide

Raleigh’s National Industry Sector Rankings:

• 10th in software publishers employment with 5,600 jobs
   

• 32nd in computer systems design and related services employment with 8,600 jobs
   

• 35th in engineering services employment with 5,900 jobs

Notes:

Raleigh = Franklin, Johnston and Wake Counties in North Carolina

Data are for 2006 unless otherwise noted.

2006 data are the most current available for employment, wages, payroll, establishments, and industry sector jobs.

Source: Cybercities 2008

Published by AeA, Advancing the Business of Technology (www.aeanet.org)

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About AeA

AeA, the nation’s largest technology trade association, representing all segments of the high-tech industry, is dedicated solely to helping our members’ top line and bottom line. We do this in partnership with our small, medium, and large member companies by lobbying governments at the state, federal, and international levels, providing access to capital and business opportunities, and offering select business services and networking programs. For more information, please visit http://www.aeanet.org.   

This page was last updated on 06/24/08.            
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