High-tech job growth concentrated in five metro areas: Study

Technology jobs and the vibrant economy they accompany have been concentrated in just five U.S. metropolitan areas, according to a report.

Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, San Diego and San Jose, California, accounted for more than 90 percent of the growth in high-tech jobs between 2005 and 2017, boosting the nation’s total innovation employment from 17.6 percent to 22.8 percent, according to a new report from the Brookings Institution.

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The report also said that during that same period, the bottom 343 other metro areas lost one-third of the nation’s innovation jobs.

Many high-tech cities are experiencing negative consequences, including soaring home prices, traffic jams and college-educated people flocking to the popular cities, the report said. As a result, parts of the country could be falling into “traps” of underdevelopment. San Francisco and San Diego, for example, are tackling a dire homeless crisis.

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Brookings proposed a massive federal government investment, compromised of direct funding, tax and regulatory benefits and workforce development to counter regional divergence.

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The report also found 35 metro areas that could potentially become one of America’s next hubs for innovation – especially in the Great Lakes, Upper South and Intermountain West regions.

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