- New York City was the city with the most tech worker relocation in 2023, according to a report by SignalFire.
- San Francisco suffered the most losses.
- Austin and Los Angeles followed New York City as the tech cities with the most migration.
New York continues to overtake San Francisco as a rival technology hub.
The New York City metropolitan area accounted for the largest share of technology worker relocation last year compared to other major U.S. cities, according to a new report from SignalFire.
The report found that even though the majority of workers left the Big Apple, the net increase in talent was about 3.5%, the highest in the nation. New York was the most common destination for tech workers in the San Francisco Bay Area, according to the report.
The New York metropolitan area follows Austin and Los Angeles as cities with the most migrants, according to the report.
Meanwhile, SignalFire found that the San Francisco Bay Area actually saw its technology pool shrink by the largest percentage last year.
In terms of losses due to employee relocation, the Bay Area was followed by the Seattle metropolitan area and the Boston area, respectively.
And while tech workers may have felt the high cost of living in San Francisco was a factor in their move, that doesn't paint the whole picture, Signal Fire researchers write. .
“What is clear is that the cost of living is not purely driving this movement; New York City is in the midst of a tech talent boom,” the researchers wrote.
Additionally, SignalFire researchers wrote that they believe many of the relocations were chosen among remote workers whose new city is not necessarily the location of their employer.
New York has proven to be a formidable region for startups, ranking second behind California as the state that received the most VC funding in 2022, CNBC reported in December. The outlet also noted that Sequoia Capital and other venture capital firms have recently expanded in New York amid a spate of IPOs over the past decade.
Much has been made of the decline of San Francisco's tech industry after many workers were evacuated during the pandemic, but some have recently speculated that the AI boom could revitalize the tech industry. For example, NVIDIA is headquartered in Santa Clara, California.
SignalFire's report notes that the Bay Area is the No. 1 spot for AI talent.
“New York City may be stealing technology talent from the West Coast more broadly, but it has a long way to go before it can catch up to the sheer volume boasted by the San Francisco Bay Area and San Jose, California,” the researchers wrote. There is.
