Nashville ranked 12th-best city for STEM workers
In recent years, Nashville's business and technology communities have sought to bring attention to the city's tech sector and to the incredible demand for talent that exists in hopes of bringing more software and IT experts to the city.
That ongoing focus on Nashville's technology sector has made significant strides of late, with the city emerging amid a new crop of rankings that emphasize its growing presence among leading tech cities.
Nashville was ranked as the No. 12 Best Metro Area for STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) Professionals by personal finance social network WalletHub this week, with its STEM employment growth listed as No. 6. In December, Fortune published data from tech job search site Dice.com that pointed to Nashville as the No. 2 fastest-growing tech job market, with a 24 percent increase in demand for workers expected in 2015.
WalletHub studied 100 metropolitan areas, assessing job openings per capita, wage growth and projected job openings for STEM workers, among other factors. Houston; Austin, Texas; and Denver were highest ranked.
Salary stood out among the analysis as a factor that kept Nashville's ranking from being higher, a useful takeaway for employers. While Nashville ranked 17th for annual median wage growth for STEM workers, it was 25th when median wage for STEM workers was considered — and that includes cost-of-living adjustments.
Demand for tech workers is taking off worldwide as our economies increasingly become tied to developments in the tech sector, but Nashville's fast growth is more than organic expansion. The Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce launched its WorkIT Nashville campaign in 2013 to spread awareness of the city's quality of life, diversity and growing technology community, and the Nashville Technology Council has worked with Nashville schools and colleges to build more interest and skills among Middle Tennessee students.
Most recently, Gov. Bill Haslam awarded the Nashville Technology Council an $850,000 state grant to partner with Tennessee community colleges to boost enrollment and graduation rates in technology programs, another tool to build the local talent pools.
Perhaps the greatest advocates for the city's technology sector are not those in the suits, but those who spend most of their time building or operating the technology Nashville's companies depend on. The Nashville Software School, led by software developer John Wark, is producing dozens of new programmers each year, and the thriving user group community organized by top software developers is helping attract other leading developers from across the nation, further building the buzz about Nashville and showcasing the opportunities available here.
To be sure, No. 12 is not No. 1 or even No. 5, and Nashville still has big steps to take to meet the heavy demand it has for more technology workers. But the efforts underway are showing results and something the city should be proud of — geeks, educators, CEOs and even, dare I say, politicians.
Reach Jamie McGee at 615-259-8071 and on Twitter @JamieMcGee_.