Miami/Fort Lauderdale Is Florida’s Leading Metro Area for Tech Employment, New Report Shows
9 out of Top 10 Florida Cybercities Add Tech Jobs in 2005

Orlando, FL (September 25, 2007) – AeA, the nation's largest trade association representing all segments of the high-tech industry, today released Florida Cybercities 2007. The report provides a comprehensive review of the high-tech industry statewide and in the 10 largest metropolitan areas by high-tech employment, wages, payroll, and establishments.

"AeA has issued this report as a sequel to the Cyberstates 2007 report released in April," said William T. Archey, President and CEO of AeA. "That report demonstrated that Florida had the 4th largest high-tech workforce in the country. Given that this seems to be a well kept secret – even within Florida – AeA thought it would be useful to dig deeper into this story and vividly show how important high tech is throughout the state."

Miami/Fort Lauderdale was the state's largest technology hub, employing some 75,300 tech industry workers in 2005, the most recent metropolitan data available. Following Miami/Fort Lauderdale in tech employment was Tampa/St. Petersburg (55,900 jobs), Orlando (42,600), Palm Bay/Melbourne (20,900), and Jacksonville (18,200).

Palm Bay/Melbourne had the highest concentration of tech workers in Florida as a percentage of the overall private sector workforce, 119 out of every 1,000 private sector workers, and they received the state's highest average tech wage, $65,800 in 2005.

"This report may surprise a lot of people around the country who do not think of Florida as a high-tech state," said Maryann Fiala, Executive Director of AeA's Florida Council. "In fact, many people in Florida may not realize that the state employs more tech workers than every state but California, Texas, and New York. Florida's high-tech economy is diffused across the state. Nine of the state's top ten metropolitan areas added jobs in 2005. This benefits Florida’s economy greatly, as tech industry jobs pay, on average, 70 percent more than the state's average private sector wage."

Florida's statewide high-tech industry employment added 10,900 net jobs, or by four percent, for a tech industry total of 276,400 jobs in 2005, the most current state data available. This makes Florida the 4th ranked cyberstate by tech industry employment and the 2nd fastest growing cyberstate in 2005.

Florida Cybercities 2007 is directly comparable to AeA's annual Cyberstates report. Released in April, Cyberstates 2007 provides a comprehensive review of the high-technology industry at the national and state-by-state level.

AeA members can purchase Florida Cybercities 2007 for $45; non-members for $90. Please visit www.aeanet.org/FLcybercities to download the report, or call 408.987.4200.

For more specific metropolitan level data, view individual press releases for Florida's Top 10 cybercities at: www.aeanet.org/FLcybercitiesPR.

What Does High Tech Mean for Florida’s Leading Metro Areas?

• Miami/Fort Lauderdale was the leading cybercity in Florida with the most tech workers (75,300), followed by Tampa/St. Petersburg (55,900) and Orlando (42,600).

• Palm Bay/Melbourne had the highest concentration of tech workers in Florida, 119 out of every 1,000 private sector workers.

• Orlando added the most tech jobs, 2,500 in 2005.

• Fort Walton Beach had the highest tech job growth rate, 26 percent in 2005.

• Palm Bay/Melbourne's tech workers had the highest average tech wage, $65,800 in 2005.

• Fort Walton Beach's tech workers experienced the highest wage differential, earning more than twice as much as the average private sector worker in 2005.

Top 10 Florida Cybercities by Employment
 

Rank	State	2004	2005	Change	Change
	Florida	265,500	276,400	+4%	+10,900
1.	Miami/Fort Lauderdale	75,200	75,300	+0%	+50
2.	Tampa/St. Petersburg	53,800	55,900	+4%	+2,100
3.	Orlando	40,200	42,600	+6%	+2,500
4.	Palm Bay/Melbourne	20,000	20,900	+5%	+900
5.	Jacksonville	16,200	18,200	+12%	+2,000
6.	Tallahassee	5,400	5,900	+10%	+500
7.	Sarasota	5,000	5,300	+7%	+400
8.	Fort Walton Beach	3,600	4,600	+26%	+900
9.	Cape Coral/Fort Myers	4,200	4,400	+6%	+200
10.	Deltona/Daytona Beach	3,900	3,300	-15%	-600

Top 10 Florida Cybercities by Wage Differential (2005)
 

Rank	State	High Tech Wages	Private Sector Wages	Wage Differential
	Florida	$61,100	$36,100	70%
1.	Fort Walton Beach	$61,900	$30,800	101%
2.	Sarasota	$62,600	$33,100	89%
3.	Tallahassee	$55,600	$31,500	76%
4.	Orlando	$63,600	$36,200	76%
5.	Palm Bay/Melbourne	$65,800	$37,800	74%
6.	Tampa/St. Petersburg	$60,800	$35,800	70%
7.	Jacksonville	$61,900	$37,500	65%
8.	Miami/Fort Lauderdale	$61,600	$39,200	57%
9.	Deltona/Daytona Beach	$44,800	$28,800	56%
10.	Cape Coral/Fort Myers	$51,300	$34,700	48%

Source: Florida Cybercities 2007

Data are for 2005 unless otherwise noted.

2005 data are the most current for state employment, wages, payroll, establishments, and industry sector jobs.

Data throughout this press release are rounded.

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

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AeA, the nation’s largest technology trade association with 2,500 member companies 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 www.aeanet.org.

This page was last updated on 09/24/07.  
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