According to CBRE’s “Scoring Tech Talent” report for North America in 2026, released on August 18th, the New York metropolitan area has surpassed the San Francisco Bay Area for the first time in terms of the absolute number of tech talents, becoming the largest tech talent employment market in the United States. However, in overall competitiveness, the San Francisco Bay Area still ranks first.
The 13th annual report released by CBRE analyzed 75 markets in the United States and Canada, selecting the top 50 markets for tech talent. The report found that AI jobs in the United States are highly concentrated, mainly in a few tech and financial centers, including the San Francisco Bay Area, New York City, Seattle, and Washington, D.C. These four regions together account for 37% of AI jobs in the United States.
The report by CBRE also found that there is high demand for AI and tech talent, which is driving up salaries.
The average salary in the U.S. tech industry is about 15% higher than the national average. The latest data shows that in 2024, the average annual salary for tech talent in the San Francisco Bay Area reached $211,048, followed by $190,050 in Seattle and $141,703 in Boston.
However, a high salary does not necessarily mean lower living expenses. In terms of the ratio of rent to tech talent salaries, cities in the Sun Belt have advantages.
For example, in San Antonio, the monthly apartment rent is approximately 12.3% of a tech talent’s monthly salary, in Austin it’s 12.7%, and in Raleigh-Durham it’s 13.5%.
In comparison, Manhattan reaches 28.7%, and South Florida is at 27.4%.
For job seekers, “abundance of tech positions” and “low cost of living” do not always align in the same location.
While San Francisco and Seattle offer high tech talent income, companies and employees also face higher costs for wages, office spaces, and housing. On the other hand, the cost of living and talent in some Sun Belt cities is relatively lower, making them attractive to tech companies and talent.
The cost disparity is even more apparent for businesses. In 2025, a tech company with 500 employees renting a 60,000 square foot office space, the total annual cost for labor and real estate ranges from approximately $36.1 million in Quebec City to around $90.6 million in the San Francisco Bay Area, more than double the difference.