You more than likely can’t escape some new headline about emerging tech, and tech industry statistics and demographics can highlight why that is.
I think we can all agree that technology has amazed us over the past few decades, and its developments seem to have become increasingly rapid.
When taking a look at the industry as a whole, its market value was expected to reach $1.8 trillion in 2022.
This alone shows that there’s plenty of room for growth and innovation in this space, regardless of how long it has been around.
There are many different facets that make up the success and demographics of the tech industry, as it’s something that affects everyone’s daily life.
This article gives you a simplified overview of important statistics and demographic information related to the tech industry.
Key Statistics
- The tech industry employed over 12 million workers in 2020
- Employment is broken down between 7.7 million industry jobs and 8 million tech occupation jobs
- Top projected growth operations in the tech industry include cybersecurity and data scientists
- There are more than 585,000 tech companies in the United States
- The tech industry is expected to grow by 5.4% by the end of 2023
Tech Industry Statistics and Demographics in 2025: The Dominating Force of the Tech Industry
If you were to just look around your home, you’d see a long list of products that come from the tech industry.
It’s currently one of the most powerful industries in the world, and technology is the cause of many modern advancements that we’re now accustomed to.
From demographics to working culture, there are many interesting statistics that highlight how prevalent the tech industry is in our current society.
Some facts are more general, while others have a niche focus yet an equal amount of importance in the growth and success of the tech industry.
1. An Overview of Tech Industry Statistics
You can only imagine what kind of influence the tech industry has on the U.S. economy, considering the industry hosts over 12 million employees.
Many of these employees work on products and services that have a national and international reach.
Regarding the U.S. GDP, the tech industry accounted for over 10% of it in 2022.
This level of influence isn’t necessarily new, as the tech industry has consistently shown these numbers for quite a few years.
It also accounts for roughly 7.9% of the entire workforce in the United States.
The industry has shown that it can rapidly change as well. Whereas 2019 only showed 0.1% in job growth in this sector, currently, it’s showing 2%.
When you break that down by the number of jobs, it goes from 11,000 to 245,000 jobs, which is a significant jump in a short amount of time.
There have also been many new developments in the tech world over the last few years, which will inherently lead to new jobs as well.
Most people who work in the tech industry are generally paid well, especially when compared to other industries in the U.S.
On average, employees who work in the tech sector make 85% more than workers from other industries.
This can be seen in more drastic numbers when you take a look at smaller communities.
One example would be that tech workers in San Diego make over 500% more than the average salary.
The tech industry spans essentially every corner of the globe, but there are a handful of countries that are really driving aspects of it forward.
A majority of the industry’s market share goes to three countries, which include the United States, Asia, and Europe.
Respectively, these countries have a market share of 35%, 31%, and 22%.
All of these statistics put the tech industry on a pedestal, but it would be interesting to see how it stacks up to other major industries in the U.S.
(Zippia)
2. Tech Ranks Among the Top 5 Industries in the U.S.
Although the tech industry plays a significant role in the U.S. economy, it doesn’t take the top spot.
There are many other industries that carry their own weight regarding the economy as a whole.
In the table below, you can get a look at the top five industries, ranked by their percentage of the U.S. GDP.
Industry | % of U.S. GDP |
Healthcare | 17.7% |
Technology | 10.5% |
Construction | 6.4% |
Retail | 5.5% |
Non-durable Manufacturing | 4.8% |
The presence of healthcare in the lives of the American people has always been seen as a cash grab. Many aspects of this industry tend to churn a lot of money.
However, among this list, healthcare and technology have also seen some of the most advancements.
Other industries like construction and manufacturing have been the backbone of the country for generations.
Nevertheless, it shows how important technology and healthcare are to the U.S. economy.
(Zippia)
3. A Look at Tech Industry Employment
It was mentioned earlier that the net tech employment has soared to over 12 million, but this is actually broken down between two categories; tech industry jobs and tech occupation jobs.
Between the two, tech industry jobs account for 7.7 million, whereas tech occupations bring in 8 million jobs.
This particular data was pulled from 2020, but employment in the tech industry is expected to grow at a rate of 2.4% year over year.
You can also assume this number may increase with time as the demand in the tech industry is bound to increase as it further integrates into our everyday lives.
When you take a look at the tech sector as a whole, there is a long list of unique jobs that operate within the industry.
Some grow much faster than others, and a lot of this comes down to demand for certain skill sets and services.
IT generally carries the industry on its back as it accounts for 65% of total tech occupations.
There are also several positions in the IT field that have seen substantial growth in recent years.
Job titles in IT that have seen the largest gains in employment include:
- Software developers
- System analysts
- Cybersecurity analysts
- Network architects
- IT support specialists
Some of the developments in the tech industry that are fueling job growth include:
- Cloud computing migration
- Application Integration
- Data Analytics
- Process automation
- Cybersecurity
It’s evident that the tech sector is a rapidly growing industry and is only becoming a more important part of the U.S. and global economy.
Taking a look at statistics from 2021, it was projected there were a few job titles that would see decent growth in the tech industry, and you can find those listed in the table below.
Occupation | Projected Growth in 2021 |
Cybersecurity | 4.4% |
Data Scientists | 4.4% |
Software Developers and Software QA | 3.7% |
Web Developers and Digital Interface Designers | 2.6% |
CIOs and IT Managers | 2.4% |
Database Administrators and Architects | 2.2% |
IT User Support Specialists | 2.2% |
In many cases, it doesn’t matter which part of the tech industry you work in; job security in this sector isn’t too much of an issue these days.
Even with the rising use of artificial intelligence, many industries, employers, and employees use it to streamline certain aspects of their jobs.
In the next section, we’ll take a look at how the tech industry has evolved based on unique demographic statistics.
(CompTIA)
Tech Industry Demographics: Industry Growth
Going back to a national point of view, the tech industry in the U.S. has seen growth in different ways across a variety of states.
Statistics make it clear that the software services sector is a prime factor in the tech industry growth in the states, but other categories also play a strong hand.
4. Tech Industry Growth by State
In this section, you’ll get a comprehensive look at which states are leading tech industry growth in the U.S.
The list below highlights the number of states that have seen the most growth on a tech industry sector basis.
- Software = 43 states
- R&D, Testing, and engineering services = 42 states
- IT services/custom software services = 38 states
- Telecommunications = 24 states
- Tech manufacturing = 17 states
On another note, the top five states based on tech industry job growth include:
- Utah = +1.5%
- Washington = +1.3%
- New Mexico = +1.3%
- District of Columbia = +1.2%
- Colorado = +1.2%
Each state has seen its own rate of tech occupation growth over the years.
We have enough data to project occupation growth based on data taken from different states.
The table below highlights the top 10 states regarding tech occupation growth from 2020 all the way to 2030.
State | Tech Occupation Growth (2020-2030) |
Utah | +27% |
Nevada | +24% |
Florida | +18% |
Idaho | +18% |
Arizona | +18% |
Texas | +17% |
South Carolina | +17% |
Georgia | +15% |
Montana | +15% |
Maryland | +14% |
These figures tend to change when enough time passes. Many different factors play into a state’s job growth regarding a specific industry sector.
While other states may be a few steps ahead, stats show that many other states are currently going through rapid development in the tech industry.
You can also break down these statistics when you start to look at certain communities and demographics within different states.
(CompTIA)
5. Which Cities Have the Most Impact on Tech?
You could guess that large metropolitan areas tend to lead the tech industry forward in the United States, and this is definitely the truth.
The city with the largest base of tech employment in the United States is New York City.
When you look at the top ten cities in this category, each of them employs over 4 million tech workers, and these cities account for one in three tech workers across the country.
Regarding new innovations in the tech industry, this usually comes from the likes of Silicon Valley, San Jose, and San Francisco.
Each of them generally adds roughly 12,000 net tech employment jobs on a yearly basis.
Other cities that are seeing growth in tech employment include:
- Boston
- Seattle
- New York
- Dallas
- Los Angeles
- Atlanta
- Denver
Although they may not receive as much attention in the tech industry, here are a few other states that are seeing job growth in smaller numbers.
- Austin
- Raleigh
- Phoenix
- Orlando
- And more
The highest concentration of net tech employment is found in San Jose, where tech employment accounts for 34% of its entire employment base.
Considering local economies, San Jose also has the highest economic impact of tech, as the industry contributes roughly 60% to the local economy.
There are 28 metro areas across the U.S. that have a higher tech employment concentration than the national benchmark, which is 7.9%.
It goes to show that metropolitan areas truly drive the industry forward en masse, compared to smaller communities.
Overall, these numbers show that many advancements in the tech industry come from a finite number of communities throughout the country.
(CompTIA)
6. Demographics on Tech Industry Employees
Many Americans have worked toward shifting their focus to the tech industry as the opportunity is clearly there.
There are quite a few job titles in this sector that are attainable for most people, but this has also created an oversaturated job market of many people reaching for the same jobs.
Nevertheless, the industry keeps growing, and the opportunities are expanding, but the data behind it looks pretty different when you look at individual states.
The highest proportion of tech workers based on the local population is in Massachusetts.
An estimated 6% of the population in that state works in the tech industry.
However, it should be noted that they aren’t the leader in the total number of tech employees.
This goes to California, as the state hosts roughly 1.86 million employees in the tech industry.
In the following table, you’ll get a look at the top ten states based on net tech employment numbers.
State | Net Tech Employment |
California | 1,866,951 |
Texas | 1,025,106 |
New York | 679,083 |
Florida | 585,296 |
Virginia | 446,507 |
Pennsylvania | 445,168 |
Illinois | 441,025 |
Massachusetts | 440,793 |
Michigan | 412,324 |
Ohio | 401,066 |
Another interesting angle is taking a look at employee demographics by gender.
It’s no secret that it’s a male-dominated industry, but more and more women are finding success and opportunities in tech as time goes on.
(Zippia)
7. Tech Employees by Gender
Even over the course of 10+ years, the split of male and female employees in the tech industry has remained relatively the same.
There are quite a few factors that play into these numbers, and one could argue women need more representation in the industry as it has always been a heavily male-dominated field.
The table below provides percentages of male and female employees in the tech industry from 2010 up to 2022.
Year | Male | Female |
2010 | 71.51% | 28.49% |
2011 | 72.49% | 27.51% |
2012 | 73.90% | 26.10% |
2013 | 74.42% | 25.58% |
2014 | 74.79% | 25.21% |
2015 | 76.49% | 23.51% |
2016 | 76.62% | 23.38% |
2017 | 76.53% | 23.47% |
2018 | 77.22% | 22.78% |
2019 | 75.98% | 24.02% |
2020 | 74.50% | 25.50% |
2021 | 72.74% | 27.26% |
2022 | 73.30% | 26.70% |
Even though this information covers a little over a decade of statistics, the mix of male and female tech workers is pretty much the same.
You can even get more detailed statistics from tech employees by breaking them down by ethnicity, as this demographic tends to vary quite a bit.
(Zippia)
8. Tech Demographics by Ethnicity
At a glance, the Asian population in the United States accounts for 11.1% of workers in the tech industry.
This is somewhat surprising as they only make up 5.4% of the total population in the U.S.
Average salaries for this demographic are also making much more than others, even if they’re working the same job titles.
On average, Asian workers in the tech industry make $7,000 more annually than white employees and $9,000 more than black tech employees.
From another angle, white employees in the tech industry are the most represented, accounting for a total of 58.90% of the employee count.
It’s interesting to note that this number has slightly decreased over the years, as white tech workers accounted for 63.89% of employees in the industry back in 2010.
When you take a look at the black community, recent data shows they make up 10.2% of tech employees, while they account for 12.1% of the U.S. population.
The list below highlights tech employment in the U.S. based on race and ethnicity.
- White = 58.90%
- Hispanic or Latino = 15.20%
- Asian = 12.30%
- Black or African American = 10.10%
- Unknown = 3.20%
- American Indian and Alaska Native = 0.30%
Although this data offers a unique tech on employee statistics in the tech industry, these numbers become even more diverse when you take a look at different age groups.
Considering the tech industry has been growing for decades, you’ll find many employees are split between the young and old, with veterans and newbies working side by side.
(Zippia)
9. Employment in the Tech Industry by Age
One might expect that the tech industry is filled with a bunch of young, enthusiastic professionals, but a majority of the industry is made up of those who are 40 or older.
A large part of the industry is comprised of younger people, but a lot of the industry consists of people who are in it for the long term.
The tech industry has seen substantial growth over the last 10 to 30 years, which plays a part in the age demographics of employees.
Here’s a breakdown of tech industry employment by age group:
- 40 years or older = 54%
- 30 to 39 years old = 30%
- 20 to 29 years old = 16%
Older generations are considered veterans in the industry for a number of reasons.
Not only because of how much time they’ve had in the industry, but it takes a certain level of dedication to make it that far.
In many ways, tech jobs can be mentally and sometimes physically taxing.
Although many people make careers out of the industry, many others end up leaving because it isn’t a lifelong passion for them.
Moving forward, these stats are bound to vary, but there are a number of trends and predictions coming from industry experts that offer a look into the future of the tech space.
(Zippia)
Future Tech Industry Trends and Predictions
The tech industry has seen substantial growth over the years, and it has no plans of slowing down any time soon.
You can look at growth in the tech industry from several different angles, as it is now more a part of our lives than it has ever been.
In our current era, over 90% of U.S. residents have internet access, whereas this number was only 50% back in the year 2000.
Over twenty years ago, only 7% of the world had access to an internet connection, but it’s becoming increasingly common in our modern world.
The rise of artificial intelligence has been one of the hottest tech topics in recent years.
Roughly 84% of businesses firmly believe that AI will give them a competitive advantage in their markets.
On the downside, 22% of executives mention that one of the main benefits of AI is it allows them to reduce the headcount in their workforce.
One of the tech sectors that’ll see the most growth over the next few years pertains to cloud computing.
By 2020, the cloud computing sector was worth $371.4 billion, and it’s expected to grow to $832.1 billion by 2025.
Overall, there’s no doubt that all facets of the tech industry will continue to grow at its current rate.
(Zippia)
The Bottom Line
The tech industry will remain a dominating force all over the world, especially when it comes to business and economic growth.
There are many people who still fight against technology developments, but this is simply a battle that can’t be one.
You’ll find the need for technology is now higher than it has ever been, and developments continue to expand with society’s demands.
In this article, you learned about various key tech industry demographics and statistics that highlight the reality of the industry and its workforce.