San Diego’s technology sector isn’t the fastest growing in the country, but it’s nearly the best turnaround story.

The region’s supply of tech jobs went from being completely stagnant just a few years ago to leaping forward faster than nearly every major city in the U.S. and Canada, according to a new report from real estate researchers at CBRE.

Technology employment in San Diego only rose 0.1 percent in 2015 and 2016. But since 2017, the tech labor pool has surged 10.3 percent. This means San Diego experienced the second biggest “momentum change” on record last year when compared to 49 other technology markets in the U.S. and Canada. The city was outpaced only by Orlando, Florida.

“San Diego’s horizon in the tech industry is incredibly positive,” said Andrew Ewald, first vice president at CBRE’s San Diego office. “We continue to see a diversification in the tech sector, with growth in software-as-a-service development, robotics, autonomous driving and medical-related technologies. This diversity, coupled with an increase in VC spending and lower cost of living compared to other markets, positions San Diego as a great region to grow a technology-focused business.”


CBRE ranks cities on its “Tech Talent Scorecard,” based on factors like tech talent supply, growth, concentration, cost, and completed tech degrees. San Diego is ranked 18 out of 50 on this scorecard. While the city didn’t touch powerhouses such as San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto, Washington, D.C. and New York (the top five markets), San Diego did outrank Los Angeles and Orange County.

Last year, San Diego came in two spots higher at No. 16 on the overall scorecard. However, the city didn’t even make the top 10 when considering momentum gains. That means tech talent growth in 2018 was likely significant, pushing San Diego to the No. 2 spot just 12 months later.

CBRE’s report wasn’t all positive. One metric in which San Diego failed to impress was “brain drain.” San Diego is graduating talent faster than it is creating tech jobs. The city’s universities graduated 15,300 people with tech degrees between 2012 and 2017, but only 9,820 tech jobs were created, according to CBRE.

The report also found San Diego to be a highly competitive market to hire tech talent based on supply, demand, wage costs and talent quality (experienced and highly educated workers). San Diego was the seventh most competitive market, following San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, Denver, Austin, Madison, and Atlanta.