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Press Release
Florida Technology Industry Added Nearly 9,600 Jobs in 2016
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Florida's technology industry employment grew by an estimated 3.1 percent in 2016 as employers added nearly 9,600 new jobs, according to Cyberstates 2017™, the definitive annual analysis of the nation's tech industry released today by CompTIA, the world's leading technology association.
With an estimated 318,343 workers, Florida ranks fourth among the 50 states for tech industry employment.
Technology occupations across all other industries in Florida – the second component of the tech workforce – reached an estimated 318,000.
The tech sector accounts for an estimated 6.1 percent ($54.2 billion) of the overall Florida economy.
"Florida continues to be a place where a flourishing economy attracts employers and high paying jobs in the technology industry," said state Senator Jack Latvala (R-Clearwater), chair of the Senate Committee on Appropriations. "We can attribute the continuing growth in tech related jobs to the efforts the state has put towards creating a business friendly environment that companies seek to do business in."
The annualized average wage for a Florida tech industry worker was an estimated $86,600 in 2016, 86 percent higher than the average state wage ($46,500). Florida ranks 23rd nationally in average tech industry wages.
Other Key Findings
- Florida ranks 23rd among all states in the Cyberstates 2017 Innovation Score, which is based on an analysis of new tech patents, tech startups and new tech business establishments on a per capita basis.
- The state is home to an estimated 30,721 tech business establishments.
- The tech industry employs an estimated 3.9 percent of the overall state workforce.
- Leading tech occupations include computer user support specialists (32,580), application software developers (32,570) and computer systems analysts (20,460).
- The strongest year-over-year job growth occurred in the categories of computer systems design and IT services (+ 7.5 percent), engineering services (+ 4.3 percent) and R&D and testing labs (+ 4.1 percent).
- State employers posted more than 26,000 job openings for tech occupations in Q4 2016.
"The Cyberstates data affirms the strength and vitality of Florida's tech industry, and attests to its essential standing in the economy," said Todd Thibodeaux, president and CEO, CompTIA. "Technology enables innovation and generates growth for companies, regardless of their size, locale or markets served."
Around the Sunshine State
Miami's metropolitan area, including Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, leads the state's tech industry with an estimated 8,167 tech business establishments and 77,109 workers. The top three occupations in the market are application software developers, computer user support specialists and telecommunications equipment installers and repairers.
The Orlando metro area is home to nearly 52,000 tech industry workers, with computer user support specialists, application software developers and computer systems analysts the top three occupation categories. There are an estimated 3,190 tech business establishments in the Orlando region.
Cyberstates 2017 is based on CompTIA's analysis of data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, EMSI, and other sources. Estimates for 2016 are subject to change as government data is revised and updated. The complete report with full national, state and metropolitan level data is available at http://www.cyberstates.org/.
