Businesses no longer buy software just to “go digital.” They buy or build software to reduce labor bottlenecks, integrate disconnected systems, improve data quality, automate manual workflows, and create a competitive edge. That matters because the software market in the United States is no longer defined by one or two superstar cities alone. Nationally, the labor outlook remains favorable for software-related work: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 15% growth in employment for software developers, QA analysts, and testers from 2024 to 2034, with about 129,200 openings per year.[1]
For companies buying software services, the practical takeaway is simple: geography still influences software demand, but not in the old “all innovation happens in Silicon Valley” sense. CBRE’s 2025 Tech Talent Analyzer still places the SF Bay Area, Seattle, Austin, New York Metro, Washington, D.C., and Boston near the top of the North American ranking, but it also shows strong growth and meaningful scale in Dallas-Ft. Worth, Atlanta, Raleigh-Durham, Phoenix, South Florida, and Houston.[3][4][5]
Why metro differences still matter
Software development demand follows industry concentration. In practice, that means the business case for software looks different from one metro to another. A company in Austin may want product software or AI-assisted features. A firm in Dallas may need internal workflow software for finance, logistics, or service operations. An operator in Houston may need industrial dashboards, maintenance workflows, field data capture, or back-office integrations. Those are all “software development,” but they are not the same buying motion.
The metro matters because the buyer context matters. In some markets the pressure is product speed. In others it is compliance, reporting, process discipline, or operational visibility. That affects what gets funded, how projects are evaluated, and what kind of software partner is the best fit.
The major patterns shaping software demand in 2025 and beyond
A few national patterns stand out. First, software demand remains broad even after the post-2021 hiring reset. CompTIA’s July 3, 2025 Tech Jobs Report said the metros with the largest volumes of active tech job postings were Washington, New York, Dallas, San Francisco, and San Jose.[2] That tells us demand is still concentrated in large, diversified markets with deep enterprise, government, or platform-company footprints.
Second, the “where” of software work is spreading. CBRE’s 2025 analyzer shows Dallas-Ft. Worth ranked No. 8, Atlanta No. 13, Raleigh-Durham No. 12, Phoenix No. 20, South Florida No. 25, and Houston No. 33 among the 50 North American markets it tracks.[3][4] The point is not that these metros have replaced the traditional leaders. It is that serious software demand now exists across a much broader geographic map.
Third, software buyers are becoming more practical. The metros that stand out are not just places with startup buzz. They are places where businesses need better systems: internal tools, operational dashboards, integrations, portals, scheduling software, reporting systems, and software that can reduce labor waste or improve decision-making.
San Francisco Bay Area: still the benchmark for frontier software
The SF Bay Area remains the clearest example of a metro where software development is both a core industry and a platform for adjacent innovation. CBRE ranks it No. 1 in its 2025 analyzer, with the largest total tech-occupation base among the markets discussed here at 405,330 roles and an average tech wage above $193,000.[3][5] For software buyers, the Bay Area matters less as a model to copy and more as a signal of where advanced product patterns tend to emerge first.
New York Metro: enterprise software, finance, and workflow scale
New York remains one of the largest and most diversified software markets in the country. CBRE ranks New York Metro No. 4 and shows 385,790 total tech occupations there, with 14.2% employment growth from 2022 to 2024 and average tech wages around $146,486.[3][5] That mix makes New York especially important for secure internal systems, fintech platforms, compliance-heavy software, data workflows, and integration projects where reliability matters more than hype.
Seattle: high concentration, strong product depth
Seattle continues to rank near the top of the U.S. tech map. CBRE places it No. 2 overall, with 184,980 tech occupations and average tech wages above $160,000.[3][5] The implication is that Seattle remains especially strong for cloud-native applications, platform engineering, developer tooling, and large-scale software products. Buyers there often evaluate vendors on technical depth, architecture, scalability, and security posture early in the process.
Boston: research, engineering, and technically demanding software
Boston remains one of the most education-rich markets in the country. CBRE ranks Boston No. 9 and shows educational attainment at roughly 52% in its 2025 analyzer.[3] That supports long-term demand in research-intensive and regulated sectors. Boston tends to reward technically credible firms building data products, health-related systems, scientific tools, and software tied to complex operating environments.
Washington, D.C.: government, enterprise, and systems software
Washington remains one of the strongest software markets in the country, not just because of federal demand but because of the surrounding ecosystem of contractors, cybersecurity work, and information-heavy enterprise operations. CompTIA put Washington at the top of July 2025 metro job-posting volume, while CBRE ranks it No. 6 overall and shows 255,120 total tech occupations in the market.[2][3][5] For software vendors, D.C. is a systems market: secure portals, reporting platforms, data integration, workflow automation, and software that can survive procurement and compliance scrutiny.
Austin: startup energy with real business-software demand
Austin remains one of the strongest software metros in the country by both ranking and growth. CBRE places it No. 5, with educational attainment around 52%, 94,160 total tech occupations, and 14.6% employment growth from 2022 to 2024.[3][5] For custom software firms, Austin is attractive because buyers range from startups and SaaS operators to mid-market businesses experimenting with automation, AI-enabled workflows, and product-led growth.
Dallas-Fort Worth: one of the best all-around markets for business software
Dallas-Ft. Worth stands out as one of the most balanced software markets in the country. CompTIA listed Dallas among the top metros by active tech job-posting volume in July 2025, and CBRE ranks Dallas-Ft. Worth No. 8 in North America.[2][3] The CBRE analyzer shows 227,220 total tech occupations in the market, 26.1% employment growth from 2022 to 2024, and 15,021 total tech degrees in the labor-pool data.[5][6] From a software-services standpoint, Dallas is one of the best places in the country for internal business applications, workflow software, integrations, ERP-adjacent tools, data platforms, and industry-specific systems.
Houston: industrial software, operations, and energy-adjacent demand
Houston is not always framed as a headline software market, but that misses the point. Its importance lies in the type of software demand it creates. CBRE shows Houston with 103,300 total tech occupations and 13.0% employment growth from 2022 to 2024.[5] Houston’s advantage is operational complexity. This is a market where custom software often connects directly to real-world business processes: industrial operations, field data, maintenance workflows, compliance reporting, instrumentation, scheduling, and back-office automation.
Atlanta: a strong growth-and-services market
Atlanta continues to show up as a strong all-purpose software metro. CBRE ranks it No. 13 and reports 133,600 total tech occupations, while the labor-pool data shows 10,303 total tech degrees and 18% growth in that measure.[3][5][6] Atlanta is especially attractive for companies serving logistics, enterprise services, healthcare operations, payments, and large distributed organizations.
Chicago: enterprise modernization and process-heavy software
Chicago remains important not because it is the flashiest software market, but because it is one of the deepest enterprise markets in the country. CBRE places Chicago No. 22, with 156,100 total tech occupations and average tech wages above $117,000.[3][5] For software vendors, Chicago is a strong fit for internal tools, enterprise modernization, reporting systems, integrations, manufacturing-adjacent software, and systems that help large organizations untangle legacy processes.
South Florida: fast growth, migration, and practical digital projects
South Florida has become harder to ignore. CBRE shows the region with 79,260 total tech occupations in 2024 and 25.1% employment growth from 2022 to 2024, one of the stronger growth rates among the markets discussed here.[5] South Florida is not a clone of Austin or the Bay Area. Its software market is broader and more mixed: service businesses, real estate, finance, e-commerce, healthcare operations, and founder-led firms all contribute to demand. For custom software shops, practical projects tend to win here: portals, integrations, CRM extensions, workflow automation, analytics, and line-of-business web apps.
Phoenix, Raleigh-Durham, Charlotte, and other rising metros
Phoenix, Raleigh-Durham, Charlotte, and similar markets deserve attention because they combine growth with less saturation than the biggest coastal hubs. CBRE ranks Raleigh-Durham No. 12, Phoenix No. 20, and Charlotte No. 24. It also shows Raleigh-Durham with 53% educational attainment and 15.4% tech-occupation growth, while Charlotte posted 16.3% tech-occupation growth from 2022 to 2024.[3][5] These metros may not dominate national software headlines, but they often create excellent demand for practical custom development: systems that reduce labor waste, unify fragmented data, and support scaling without adding too much overhead.
What this means for businesses buying custom software
The software market is no longer just a map of where developers live. It is a map of where business pain is strong enough to justify software investment. That is why different metros support different kinds of projects.
In high-finance and enterprise-service metros, software tends to center on secure workflows, auditability, and system integration. In industrial metros, it tends to center on operations, data collection, and field-to-office visibility. In startup-heavy metros, it tends to center on product speed, experimentation, and new revenue. In growth metros, it often centers on replacing spreadsheets, manual processes, disconnected systems, and brittle workarounds.
For a company looking for a software partner, the best question is not “Which city is hottest?” It is “Which partner understands the kind of software our business actually needs?”
Final assessment
The current U.S. software landscape is broad, healthy, and more distributed than many people assume. The SF Bay Area still sets the pace for frontier software and advanced product patterns. New York remains formidable in enterprise and finance. Seattle, Boston, and Washington retain dense high-skill demand. Austin is still one of the best startup and product markets in the country. Dallas-Ft. Worth is one of the strongest all-around business software metros. Houston remains especially attractive for industrial and operational software. Atlanta and Chicago continue to reward enterprise-capable providers. South Florida has grown into a serious digital-services market. The opportunity is real in all of these markets, but the winning software projects are the ones that match local business reality, not generic tech trends.
Featured image credit: NASA, Brilliance at Night: The Americas in Darkness.
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Software Developers, Quality Assurance Analysts, and Testers.
- CompTIA, “Tech hiring activity outpaces expectations, CompTIA Tech Jobs Report finds” (July 3, 2025).
- CBRE, 2025 Tech Talent Analyzer.
- CBRE, 2025 Tech Talent Analyzer data: EverythingElse.csv.
- CBRE, 2025 Tech Talent Analyzer data: Employment.csv.
- CBRE, 2025 Tech Talent Analyzer data: LaborPool.csv.