Virginia has the highest concentration of high-technology workers in the United States — and they’re significantly better paid than other workers in the state, according to a new report issued Tuesday.
The American Electronics Association’s report, “Cyberstates 2007,” found high-tech jobs comprise 8.9 percent of Virginia’s work force. The District of Columbia’s concentration ranked fourth overall in the nation; Maryland ranked sixth.
“There’s a phenomenon in the high tech industry called clustering,” AEA Chief Executive Officer Bill Archey said. “You get a core of high tech companies that tend to attract more to come to the area. To put it in colloquial terms, geeks like to be with geeks.”
Virginia technology workers receive an average annual wage of $83,600, which is 99 percent higher than the state’s average private sector wage, the report said. D.C. workers averaged $80,100, while they earned around $77,000 in Maryland.
It isn’t the first time this year the area was recognized for its strong tech base. Maryland ranked third in the country out of states prepared for a “new economy,” which focuses on innovation and having a global perspective. Virginia ranked eighth.
“It’s a trend, and we’re pleased to see more validation,” Northern Virginia Technology Company Vice President of Policy Josh Levi said.
Levi cited the variety in Virginia’s technology economy as a driving factor for its success.
“In other parts of the world you see a focus on specific things like high-end manufacturing or biotechnology,” Levi said. “We continue to bediverse.”
The state was one of few areas that did not see a decline in telecommunications jobs, Archey said.
If the greater D.C. metropolitan area were treated as one state, it would have the second highest total of high-tech workers, totaling 458,200 and trailing only California, the report said.
Archey was optimistic the trend will continue, but said improvements in math and science education, as well as VISA reform for foreign workers, are needed to ensure that happens.
