[Women’s History Month] The Best Cities for Women in Tech
by Samara Lynn

March 1, 2016

[Women’s History Month] The Best Cities for Women in Tech

SmartAsset released a report based on Census Bureau data, breaking down the best U.S. cities for women in technology.

[Related: 9 Black Women in STEM You Need To Know]

For the second year in a row, Washington D.C. remains the top city for women in tech. The nation’s capital is ranked as such because women there hold more than 40% of tech jobs, and both genders earn about the same in the tech space.

Kansas City, Missouri; Detroit, Michigan; and Baltimore, Maryland ranked second, third and fourth, respectively, as best cities for women in technology.

The full weighting system for ranking cities was based on gender pay gap (the ratio of median earnings for women in tech and math occupations to median earnings for men in the same fields); income after housing costs; and the percentage of all tech and math jobs filled by women. Also figured into the rankings, but not as heavily weighted, is the three-year percentage growth in that city of tech jobs from 2011 to 2014.

The report also has some key takeaways:

  • Capital regions are best for women in technology.
  • There has been no significant progress made since last year in the amount of women who hold tech positions and pay equity in technology. Last year, SmartAsset calculated that women held less than 26% of the tech jobs in the U.S. and on average earn 85% of what men earn.
  • In major tech hubs, including San Francisco, San Jose, and Seattle, the tech workforce is about 75% male.
  •  In the largest tech companies, women are woefully underrepresented:
    • Twitter: women hold 13% of technical positions.
    • Amazon: women hold 11% of technical positions.
    • Google: women hold 18% of technical positions.
    • Microsoft: women hold 16.9% of technical positions
    • Apple: women hold 22% of technical positions.
    • Facebook: women hold 16% of technical positions.

The issue of diversity in tech has increasingly come under scrutiny as reports continue to emerge that there is not only a gender representation problem in technology but also a racial one.

Data released by major tech companies including Facebook, Google, and Yahoo shows that black employees typically make up less than 2% of their workforce.

While many tech industry leaders have used the excuse that there aren’t enough qualified minorities to fill these positions, many have denounced that idea. Congressman G.K. Butterfield (NC), chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, at a CBC Tech 2020, called the excuse of the lack of a minority talent pipeline “a myth.”

Here are the top 10 best cities for women in tech, below:

(Click on image for larger view)

 


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