Tech Industry in Denver and Boulder Employs 111,100
23 Percent of Boulder's Workforce in Tech Industry

Broomfield, CO (June 24, 2008) – AeA, the nation’s largest technology trade association representing all segments of the high-tech industry, today released Cybercities 2008: An Overview of the High-Technology Industry in the Nation's Top 60 Cities. This detailed report tracks trends in high-tech employment, wages, establishments, payroll, employment concentration, and wage differential at the metropolitan level.

The tech industry in the combined metro area of Boulder and Denver employed 111,100 in 2006, according to the most current metropolitan data available. Denver's tech industry employed 80,500 and Boulder's employed 30,500. Nearly a quarter of the entire private sector workforce in Boulder is employed by tech companies, the second highest concentration in the nation. In Denver, nearly eight percent of its workforce was in the tech industry, which is still higher than the national average of five percent.

Tech industry workers in both metro areas are well compensated for their skills. Annual average tech wages in Boulder ranked sixth nationwide at $96,100, while Denver averaged $87,900 in 2006.

When examining employment by high-tech industry sectors, Boulder had a large software publishers industry with 5,700 workers, the ninth largest cybercity in this sector. Denver had a large number of engineering services workers at 19,300, ranking seventh nationwide.

“While Denver is still struggling from the bursting of the telecommunications and technology bubble, Boulder has slowly added jobs,” said Greg Jenik, COO of TAEUS International Corp. and Chair of AeA Mountain States Council.  "We need to do all we can to support and attract tech jobs, which pay significantly more than the average private sector wage. At the local and state level, this means an increased focus on math and science education, all the way from kindergarten to university. At the federal level, we need to increase funding for physical science research. Many technologies that exist today had their origins in federally funded basic research."

Cybercities 2008 shows that the top five cybercities by high-tech employment in 2006 were the New York Metro Area, Washington, DC, San Jose/Silicon Valley, Boston, and Dallas-Fort Worth. The nation’s highest tech industry concentration was in San Jose/Silicon Valley, where more than one in four private sector workers were employed by the tech industry. Seattle saw the largest tech industry employment growth, adding 7,800 jobs in 2006.

Later this summer, AeA will release Trade in the Cyberstates 2008: A State-by-State Overview of High-Tech International Trade. That report will look at the most recent data on high-tech exports from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

AeA members can purchase Cybercities 2008 for $125; non-members for $250.  Visit www.aeanet.org/cybercities to download the report, or call 408.987.4200. 

What Does High Tech Mean for the Combined Denver and Boulder metro area?

• 111,100 high-tech workers
   

• High-tech average wage of $90,200
   

• $10.0 billion in high-tech payroll in 2006
   

• 7,900 high-tech establishments in 2006

What Does High Tech Mean for Denver?

• 80,500 high-tech workers in 2006 (18th ranked cybercity)
   

• 14 jobs lost between 2005 and 2006 (52nd ranked cybercity)
   

• High-tech firms employed 78 of every 1,000 private sector workers in 2006 (19th ranked cybercity)
   

• High-tech workers earned an average wage of $87,900 (13th ranked), or 81 percent more than Denver’s average private sector wage
   

• A high-tech payroll of $7.1 billion in 2006 (18th ranked cybercity)
   

• 6,400 high-tech establishments in 2006 (10th ranked cybercity)

Denver’s National Industry Sector Rankings:

• 7th in engineering services employment with 19,300 jobs
   

• 8th in telecommunication services employment with 21,500 jobs
   

• 16th in computer systems design and related services employment with 20,100 jobs

What Does High Tech Mean for Boulder?

• 30,500 high-tech workers in 2006 (38th ranked cybercity)
   

• 300 jobs gained between 2005 and 2006 (41st ranked cybercity)
   

• High-tech firms employed 230 of every 1,000 private sector workers in 2006 (2nd ranked cybercity)
   

• High-tech workers earned an average wage of $96,100 (6th ranked), or 85 percent more than Boulder’s average private sector wage
   

• A high-tech payroll of $2.9 billion in 2006 (30th ranked cybercity)
   

• 1,500 high-tech establishments in 2006 (42nd ranked cybercity)

Boulder’s National Industry Sector Rankings:

• 9th in software publishers employment with 5,700 jobs
   

• 24th in R&D and testing labs employment with 5,600 jobs
   

• 42nd in computer systems design and related services employment with 5,800 jobs

Notes:
Denver = Colorado Counties: Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Clear Creek, Denver, Douglas, Elbert, Gilpin, Jefferson, and Park.

Boulder = Colorado: Boulder County

Data are for 2006 unless otherwise noted.

2006 data are the most current available for employment, wages, payroll, establishments, and industry sector jobs.

Source: Cybercities 2008

Published by AeA, Advancing the Business of Technology (www.aeanet.org)

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About AeA

AeA, the nation’s largest technology trade association, representing all segments of the high-tech industry, is dedicated solely to helping our members’ top line and bottom line. We do this in partnership with our small, medium, and large member companies by lobbying governments at the state, federal, and international levels, providing access to capital and business opportunities, and offering select business services and networking programs. For more information, please visit http://www.aeanet.org.   

This page was last updated on 06/20/08.            
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