CompTIA Newsroom

CompTIA Cyberstates™ 2018 finds Beehive State ranks 18^th in innovation

Salt Lake City, March 27, 2018 – Employment in Utah’s technology industry expanded by nearly 4 percent in 2017 – an estimated 3,370 jobs – and the industry contributed $14.9 billion to the state’s economy, according to Cyberstates™ 2018, the definitive annual analysis of the nation’s tech industry published today by CompTIA, the world’s leading technology industry association.

With 135,500 workers, Utah ranks 26^th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia in net tech employment.[1] This accounts for 8.6 percent of the state’s total workforce. The average tech industry wage in Utah is $83,590, compared to the state’s average private sector annual wage of $46,010.

“The year over year growth in the tech community in Utah is unsurprising,” said John Knotwell, president and CEO of the Utah Technology Council. “Technology workers and companies continue to be the rocket fuel to our robust economy and the rest of the world has taken notice. It’s an exciting time to be in tech in Utah.”

The tech sector is responsible for an estimated 10.2 percent ($14.9 billion) of the overall state economy. Utah is home to more than 6,500 tech business establishments.

Utah’s Cyberstates Innovation Score places the state 18^th, down from 7^th last year. This ranking is based on a state-by-state per capita analysis of new tech patents awarded, tech startups and new tech business establishments.

Utah saw a 42.2 percent jump from 2016 to 2017 in the number of job postings related to emerging technologies – such as the Internet of Things, smart cities, drones, artificial intelligence, machine learning, virtual reality and augmented reality, and blockchain. While these positions accounted for only about 10 percent of total tech job postings, they are an indicator of where organizations are headed with the technology investments.

The strongest year-over-year job growth occurred in the categories of packaged software (+ 8.2 percent); IT services and customer software services (+ 5.7 percent); telecommunications and Internet services (+ 3.6 percent); and R&D, testing and engineering services (+ 3.4 percent).

Cyberstates 2018 (#cyberstates) is based on CompTIA’s analysis of data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, EMSI, Burning Glass Technologies Labor Insights, and other sources. Estimates for 2017 are subject to change as government data is revised and updated. The complete Cyberstates 2018 report, with complete national, state and metropolitan level data, is available at http://cyberstates.org/

About CompTIA
The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) is a leading voice and advocate for the $4.8 trillion global information technology ecosystem; and the technology professionals who design, implement, manage, and safeguard the technology that powers the global economy. Through education, training, certifications, advocacy, philanthropy, and market research, CompTIA is the hub for advancing the tech industry and its workforce. Visit www.comptia.org to learn more.

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