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Boulder ranks No. 2 among 'cybercities'

Only Silicon Valley more saturated

By Roger Fillion, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published June 23, 2008 at 10:10 p.m.

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Boulder ranked as the No. 2 city in the nation for its percentage of workers employed in high-tech work, according to the American Electronics Association.

The city also had the sixth-highest high-tech wages.

A new AeA survey showed that San Jose/Silicon Valley led the nation in concentration of high-tech workers in 2006, with 286 high-tech workers per 1,000 private sector workers.

Boulder had 230 high-tech workers per 1,000 in 2006, according to the latest available data. Huntsville, Ala.; Durham, N.C., and Washington, D.C., rounded out the top five cities.

Elsewhere in Colorado, Colorado Springs had 122 tech workers per 1,000 private sector workers and Denver had 78 per 1,000.

The tech industry in the combined metro area of Boulder and Denver employed 111,100 in 2006. Denver's tech industry employed 80,500 and Boulder's employed 30,500.

Boulder added 300 tech workers from 2005 to 2006 while Denver shed 14.

"While Denver is still struggling from the bursting of the telecommunications and technology bubble, Boulder has slowly added jobs," said Matthew Kazmierczak, AeA's vice president of research and industry analysis.

But from 2001 to 2006 Boulder lost 11,700 tech jobs, while Denver lost 21,500.

Colorado Springs employed 25,500 tech workers in 2006. The city shed 800 tech workers from 2005 to 2006, and lost 9,700 jobs from 2001 to 2006.

Annual average tech wages in Boulder ranked sixth nationwide at $96,100 in 2006.

Denver averaged $87,900, and Colorado Springs averaged $74,700.

Nationwide, the AeA report showed that 51 of the 60 "cybercities" it surveyed added high-tech jobs in 2006.

Seattle led the nation, adding 7,800 net jobs.

The next largest net gains in high-tech employment between 2005 and 2006 occurred in the New York metro area, up 6,400, and Washington, up 6,100.

On a percentage basis, Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif. saw the fastest job growth in 2006 at 12 percent.

fillionr@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2467

Wired towns

The following shows the top 5 cities in the U.S. by concentration of high-tech workers in 2006. The figure refers to the number of tech workers per 1,000 private-sector workers.

San Jose/Silicon Valley 286

Boulder 230

Huntsville, Ala. 188

Durham, N.C. 156

Washington 132