For the second consecutive year, a national report found that Virginia has the highest concentration of high-tech jobs in the country.
The American Electronics Association’s annual Cyberstates 2008 report assesses the high-tech industry nationally and at the state level. D.C., Maryland and Virginia were all found to be leading technology regions.
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In 2006, the most recent year for which state-level data is available, AEA found that Virginia added 9,800 tech jobs, a growth of 4 percent.
The state ranked third in overall growth, with 9.1 percent of its total work force composed of tech jobs, up from 8.9 percent the previous year. The full report, including a complete list of rankings, was to be released this morning.
Computer systems design, engineering services and Internet services jobs were the most prevalent in Virginia, though the state lost both telecommunications and Internet jobs during the year. The average high-tech wage in the state is $86,400, the sixth-highest in the nation.
“I don’t think we reflect the trends as much as I think we are the trend,” said Gerry Gordon, president of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority. According to Gordon, about half the jobs added in Virginia were in Fairfax.
Gordon said that even Fairfax companies that aren’t known as high-tech firms, such as ExxonMobil, are prone to do high-level research; Exxon, for example, employs a think tank of more than 40 employees.
D.C. was ranked fourth in terms of tech job concentration for the second year; Maryland ranked fifth, up from sixth the year before. D.C. added 600 jobs in the industry while Maryland added 3,200 jobs.
The report citedthe D.C. region’s proximity to the federal government and highly educated work force as the reasons for its strong performance.
The industry as a whole added 91,400 jobs in 2007, though the rate of job growth in the sector was slower than in 2006.
