Cyberstates: Colorado’s concentration of tech workers ranks 3rd

The state of Colorado ranked 13th in the nation in the number of people employed in the tech industry in 2015. But as a percentage of the private-sector workforce, tech plays a larger role in just two other states.

That’s according to the latest annual Cyberstates report released by the Computing Technology Industry Association, or CompTIA. The Cyberstates report, in general, includes in its definition of the tech industry sectors involved in making, creating, enabling, integrating or supporting technology either as a product as a service – but not industry sectors categorized merely as users of technology.

The report noted that Colorado’s 2015 tech industry employment of 187,242 accounted for 9 percent of all private-sector workers. The only states with higher concentrations of tech workers were Massachusetts (9.8 percent) and Virginia (9.5 percent). Maryland was fourth at 8.6 percent, followed by California and Washington at 8.2 percent. Nationwide, the figure is 5.7 percent.

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Colorado’s number of tech jobs increased by 3,088, or 1.7 percent, in 2015. The state’s tech industry payroll was $19.9 billion, with the average wage in the tech industry in Colorado hitting $106,350.

That average wage figure is nearly double the private-sector average wages for all industries in Colorado, a number that stood at $53,400 in 2015.

The report states that the tech industry accounts for 11.5 percent of the state’s economy. That figure put Colorado third behind Oregon (23 percent) and Washington (12.6).

Applications software developers led the tech charge in Colorado with 22,800 employed in the sector in 2015, followed by computer user support specialists at 13,600 and systems software developers at 11,500.

Compared to the nation, however, Colorado’s space and defense systems manufacturing industry ranked highest. Colorado had 6,300 people employed in the industry, placing it fifth behind California (23,100), Arizona (11,400), Florida (6,700) and Massachussetts (6,600).

Nationally, There were 6.7 million people employed in the tech industry in 2015, up 198,200. The 3 percent growth rate from 2014 is the highest in more than a decade, according to the Cyberstates report. The 6.7 million figure doesn’t include an additional 1 million tech workers categorized as self-employed or sole proprietors.