High-Tech Jobs

Jobs in high-tech electronics manufacturing, software and computer-related services, and telecommunications as a share of total employment.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? Within both the manufacturing and service sectors, technology companies have become more important. High-tech manufacturing’s share of value added in manufacturing has grown from 18 percent in 1970 to 24 percent in 1994.24 High-tech output as a whole has increased from 5.5 percent of GDP in 1990 to 6.2 percent in 1996, and average wages in the high-tech sector are 77 percent higher than in the rest of the economy.25 Moreover, while these industries make up less than 7 percent of the overall economy’s output, they are key drivers of the New Economy. Just as capital and machinery-intensive industries (autos, chemicals, and steel) drove growth in the 1950s and 1960s, high-tech firms (computer hardware and software, telecommunications, and biotech) are the growth engines of the New Economy.

THE RANKINGS: The high-tech focus of states varies significantly, from a high of 8.2 percent of the workforce in New Hampshire to 1 percent in Wyoming. While all states have high-tech jobs, the leaders tend to be in the Northeast, the Mountain States, and the Pacific region. High-tech jobs are often concentrated in particular regions of a state: information technology in southern New Hampshire; software around Provo, Utah, and Seattle; Internet and telecommunications in the Washington, DC region of Maryland and Virginia; telecommunications in Denver; semiconductors in Phoenix; and a broad mix of technologies in Silicon Valley and Los Angeles.

STATES BY RANK
Rank	State	Score
1	New Hampshire	8.2%
2	Colorado	8.0%
3	Massachusetts	7.7%
4	California	6.9%
5	Vermont	6.3%
6	Virginia	6.0%
7	Minnesota	5.9%
8	New Jersey	5.8%
9	Oregon	5.4%
10	Maryland	5.4%
11	Texas	5.4%
12	Arizona	5.3%
13	Idaho	5.3%
14	South Dakota	5.1%
15	Utah	5.1%
16	Connecticut	5.1%
17	New York	4.9%
18	Washington	4.7%
19	Georgia	4.4%
20	Nebraska	4.4%
21	Illinois	4.2%
22	New Mexico	4.0%
23	North Carolina	3.9%
24	Rhode Island	3.7%
25	Florida	3.5%
26	Pennsylvania	3.5%
27	Missouri	3.3%
28	Alabama	3.2%
29	Oklahoma	3.1%
30	Kansas	2.9%
31	Iowa	2.9%
32	Ohio	2.9%
33	Indiana	2.7%
34	Michigan	2.6%
35	Wisconsin	2.4%
36	Maine	2.3%
37	Delaware	2.3%
38	Kentucky	2.2%
39	North Dakota	2.2%
40	Arkansas	2.0%
41	South Carolina	2.0%
42	Tennessee	1.9%
43	West Virginia	1.8%
44	Alaska	1.8%
45	Nevada	1.7%
46	Hawaii	1.6%
47	Mississippi	1.6%
48	Louisiana	1.5%
49	Montana	1.4%
50	Wyoming	1.0%

	U.S. average26	4.5%

ALPHABETICALLY
State	Rank	Score
Alabama	28	3.2%
Alaska	44	1.8%
Arizona	12	5.3%
Arkansas	40	2.0%
California	4	6.9%
Colorado	2	8.0%
Connecticut	16	5.1%
Delaware	37	2.3%
Florida	25	3.5%
Georgia	19	4.4%
Hawaii	46	1.6%
Idaho	13	5.3%
Illinois	21	4.2%
Indiana	33	2.7%
Iowa	31	2.9%
Kansas	30	2.9%
Kentucky	38	2.2%
Louisiana	48	1.5%
Maine	36	2.3%
Maryland	10	5.4%
Massachusetts	3	7.7%
Michigan	34	2.6%
Minnesota	7	5.9%
Mississippi	47	1.6%
Missouri	27	3.3%
Montana	49	1.4%
Nebraska	20	4.4%
Nevada	45	1.7%
New Hampshire	1	8.2%
New Jersey	8	5.8%
New Mexico	22	4.0%
New York	17	4.9%
North Carolina	23	3.9%
North Dakota	39	2.2%
Ohio	32	2.9%
Oklahoma	29	3.1%
Oregon	9	5.4%
Pennsylvania	26	3.5%
Rhode Island	24	3.7%
South Carolina	41	2.0%
South Dakota	14	5.1%
Tennessee	42	1.9%
Texas	11	5.4%
Utah	15	5.1%
Vermont	5	6.3%
Virginia	6	6.0%
Washington	18	4.7%
West Virginia	43	1.8%
Wisconsin	35	2.4%
Wyoming	50	1.0%

Source: American Electronics Association, 1997 data.

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The Progressive Policy Institute (PPI)
Technology, Innovation, and New Economy Project
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