SAN FRANCISCO — Despite several years of technology-sector job cuts, the San Francisco Bay Area continues to set the standard for tech talent in the United States, according to a new CBRE study that highlights the region’s deep concentration of technology and artificial intelligence workers.
The Bay Area retained the No. 1 position among U.S. tech talent markets, demonstrating that recent workforce contraction has not displaced Northern California from the top of the nation’s technology hierarchy.
For technology professionals considering a move to California, as well as companies weighing where to locate or expand operations, the findings point to a market that remains unusually rich in specialized talent even as employers gain access to more available office space.
Bay Area Tech Workforce Falls, but Talent Concentration Remains High
The San Francisco Bay Area’s tech talent workforce declined 6% between 2022 and 2025, losing approximately 23,900 workers and bringing the total to 375,730 tech workers.
The decline means New York has surpassed the Bay Area as the country’s largest tech talent market by total workforce.
But sheer size is only one measure of a technology ecosystem.
According to CBRE, tech talent represents 10.7% of the Bay Area’s overall workforce, compared with just 5.5% across the 50 markets included in the study.
That concentration helps distinguish the region from larger labor markets where technology workers represent a smaller portion of overall employment.
The composition of the Bay Area’s workforce is another major advantage. About 61.4% of its tech talent works directly within the technology industry, the highest percentage among large U.S. markets.
That compares with 51.9% in Seattle and 55% in Austin, two other major technology centers.
For job seekers considering relocating to California, that concentration can matter. A large ecosystem of technology employers can provide access to multiple companies and career paths within the same region rather than tying a worker’s opportunities to a single major employer.
AI Could Help Sustain the Bay Area’s Lead
Artificial intelligence is becoming an increasingly important component of the competition among technology hubs.
The Bay Area is one of the country’s four largest clusters of AI-specialty talent, according to the CBRE findings, joining Seattle, New York and Washington, D.C.
The concentration reinforces an advantage California has developed as investment and hiring increasingly shift toward artificial intelligence and related technologies.
For engineers, researchers, software developers, data scientists and other professionals considering California, the growth of AI could therefore make the Bay Area particularly significant despite the broader technology industry’s recent restructuring.
Rather than measuring the market solely by how many technology jobs were added or eliminated during the post-pandemic adjustment, CBRE’s ranking suggests the depth and specialization of the existing workforce remain critical competitive factors.
Seattle Shows How Quickly Another Tech Hub Can Grow
Seattle remains one of the Bay Area’s strongest competitors.
Technology workers account for 10.2% of Seattle’s employment, nearly matching the Bay Area’s 10.7% concentration.
Unlike San Francisco, however, Seattle has recently been expanding its technology workforce.
The city’s tech talent base increased 13.1% between 2022 and 2025, reaching approximately 213,010 workers.
Both regions also rank among America’s largest AI talent clusters, placing the West Coast at the center of the country’s competition for advanced technology workers.
The Bay Area’s Biggest Disadvantage Is Cost
The same ecosystem that makes the Bay Area attractive to technology companies also makes it expensive.
CBRE estimates that a representative 500-person company occupying 60,000 square feet of office space would face approximately $90.6 million in annual costs in the Bay Area.
That was the highest figure among the markets included in the ranking.
Seattle’s comparable annual cost was estimated at $73.9 million.
For companies considering California, those numbers illustrate a familiar trade-off: access to one of the country’s deepest pools of technology talent comes with significantly higher labor and real estate expenses.
High Office Vacancy Creates a Different Opportunity
The commercial real estate market adds another dimension to the Bay Area’s technology story.
Despite being the country’s highest-ranked tech talent market, the Bay Area recorded an office vacancy rate of 24.2% during the fourth quarter of 2025.
Seattle’s vacancy rate was even higher at 28.6%.
At the same time, Bay Area asking office rents were approximately 14% below their pre-pandemic level.
That produces an unusual market dynamic.
Companies seeking access to one of North America’s strongest technology workforces are entering a market where a significant amount of office space remains available following the shift toward remote and hybrid work.
For expanding companies, startups and employers establishing a California presence, greater availability could create more choices when negotiating office locations, even though the Bay Area remains expensive overall.
What the CBRE Ranking Means for People Moving to California
For workers considering relocating to California for a technology career, the study offers a more nuanced picture than recent headlines about Silicon Valley layoffs might suggest.
The Bay Area has lost technology workers, and New York now has a larger tech workforce. Yet the region continues to distinguish itself through the share of its workforce employed in technology, the percentage of tech workers employed directly by tech companies and its concentration of AI-specialty talent.
Those factors could be particularly important for workers pursuing careers in artificial intelligence, software development, engineering, data science and emerging technologies.
Housing and living expenses, however, remain an important part of any relocation calculation. High employer costs generally reflect the broader expense of operating and living in the region, meaning prospective residents should compare compensation packages with housing, transportation and other household costs before making a move.
California’s Tech Center Is Changing, Not Disappearing
The latest CBRE findings suggest the Bay Area’s technology economy is undergoing a transition rather than losing its position as a major global technology center.
Its workforce is smaller than it was several years ago. Office vacancies remain elevated. Employers face some of the country’s highest operating costs.
Yet the region still possesses something difficult for competing markets to reproduce quickly: an exceptionally dense network of technology companies, specialized workers and AI talent.
For newcomers considering where to build a technology career — and businesses deciding where to find highly specialized workers — that ecosystem helps explain why the San Francisco Bay Area remains America’s highest-ranked tech talent market.