Tampa ranked in Top 30 for Gen Z tech job opportunities

Tampa ranks among best tech towns for young workers. Image via Tampa Downtown Partnership.

Tampa stands out as the best Florida city for young workers entering the technology field, according to a new study by BizInsure.com.

BizInsure.com looked at the tech industry in every state and Washington, D.C., and ranked the best tech towns. Analysts looked at 324 metro markets across the United States, using metrics such as tech job availability, rent affordability and lifestyle for the Generation Z demographic entering the workforce.

On the national scale, Tampa ranked 28th in the country for best tech city for Gen Z recent college graduates entering the workforce. According to the study, Tampa has 36.29 jobs in the tech field for every 1,000 total jobs in that market.

The analysis also found the median tech job salary in Tampa was $98,430 per year, and the average worker spends about 16.79% of their wages on rent.

Tampa fell behind some other cities because there are only four major tech companies that are headquartered in the city. But there are 38 tech companies that are growing in the Tampa metro area.

Those figures for Tampa are well off the top-ranked cities. San Jose, California, was ranked first for having 142 tech jobs in that market for every 1,000 jobs. The median tech salary there is $175,110 per year. There are 17 major tech companies headquartered in San Jose and another 86 growing tech firms.

But the analysis found any city would be hard pressed to beat San Jose in terms of tech job environment.

“In San Jose, the sheer number of tech jobs and soaring salaries make it an untouchable #1 overall. Silicon Valley dominates startup funding by a large margin, so it makes sense that new tech businesses created here grow amidst network effects that can’t be replicated elsewhere,” the study concluded.

New York City was ranked second, followed by Boulder, Colorado, Seattle, and Austin, Texas, rounding out the Top 5.