A significant shift is taking place in the U.S. technology landscape, as New York has overtaken the San Francisco Bay Area in total tech workforce, becoming the largest tech talent pool by headcount for the first time in the history of CBRE’s annual Scoring Tech Talent report.
According to employment data included in CBRE’s 2026 report, the New York metropolitan area had 394,300 tech workers in 2025, compared with 375,730 in the San Francisco Bay Area.
New York adds more than 30,000 tech workers
Between 2022 and 2025, New York’s tech workforce expanded by approximately 30,640 workers, or 8.4%.
The San Francisco Bay Area moved in the opposite direction during the same period, losing approximately 23,900 tech workers, representing a decline of around 6%.
The shift means that New York has surpassed the Bay Area in total tech employment for the first time in CBRE’s 13 years of tracking North American technology talent.
Artificial intelligence fuels New York’s rise
One of the major forces behind New York’s growing technology workforce is the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence.
According to CBRE, the number of technology workers with AI-related skills across the United States and Canada increased 45% in a single year, reaching approximately 751,000.
New York Metro and the San Francisco Bay Area were also among the biggest beneficiaries of the AI boom, with each adding more than 20,000 workers with AI-related skills.
Around 17% of New York Metro’s tech talent now has artificial intelligence-related expertise, highlighting the growing importance of AI to the region’s technology economy.
Wall Street helps fuel tech hiring
New York’s growth is not being driven solely by traditional technology companies.
The city’s massive financial services industry has increasingly invested in software development, data analytics, cloud infrastructure and artificial intelligence, creating strong demand for highly skilled technology workers.
This trend illustrates a broader transformation in the technology labor market, where tech professionals are increasingly being hired by companies outside the traditional technology sector, including financial institutions, healthcare companies and other major industries.
San Francisco remains No. 1 overall
New York surpassing San Francisco in total tech workforce does not mean it has overtaken the Bay Area in CBRE’s overall ranking of North America’s top technology markets.
CBRE evaluates markets using multiple factors, including the size and concentration of the tech workforce, labor costs, wages, education and the availability of skilled talent.
Under the broader ranking, the San Francisco Bay Area remains No. 1, followed by Seattle and Toronto, while New York Metro ranks fourth overall.
New York has therefore taken the lead in the sheer number of tech workers, while San Francisco continues to hold the top position when the overall strength of the technology ecosystem is considered.
AI reshapes the North American technology sector
CBRE’s findings also underline how quickly artificial intelligence is transforming the technology labor market.
By June 2026, approximately 31% of technology job openings in the United States were related to AI, up sharply from around 11% in 2022.
The figures suggest that demand is increasingly shifting toward workers with artificial intelligence expertise as companies across multiple industries accelerate their adoption of AI technologies.
New York’s rise past the San Francisco Bay Area in total tech employment marks one of the clearest signs yet of the changing geography of America’s technology workforce.
