Detroit Named No. 5 Fastest-Growing Tech City in 2012

Motown is no one-hit wonder.

Detroit continues to be listed among the fastest-growing tech cities in America. After hitting No. 1 on its list in 2011, Dice.com listed Detroit the No. 5 fastest-growing tech city in 2012. It’s the only city to remain among the top 5 in both years.

“Detroit is a great place to be, and that’s what’s driving it,” Dice.com senior vice president Tom Silver told CBS Detroit. “I think what’s contributing to it is a growth in opportunity as well as a pretty good cost of living. Increasingly, people are moving from more traditional tech centers like (Silicon) Valley and (New York City), where it’s really expensive, to cities like Detroit, which is a great place to live.”

The recently-released list is compiled from Dice.com’s tech job listings. Detroit’s year-over-year growth in tech job listings was 10 percent.

In 2011, when Detroit was No. 1 on the list, it had more than 800 tech jobs posted a day. In 2012, that number is closer to 1,100.

Detroit is joined on the top 5 list by St. Louis, Mo. (25-percent growth), Charlotte, N.C. (22%), Austin, Texas (16%) and Phoenix, Ariz. (13).

Silver said the “traditional tech centers” are being redefined as communities come together to support startups, woo large companies and fund STEM education programs.

Indeed, startups are hot in Detroit and across Michigan. According to a recent report by Crain’s Detroit Business, “the number of Michigan-based venture capital firms has tripled in recent years, and firms that use to consider Michigan a flyover state have since parachuted in.”

Related Links:
2013 Michigan Technology Job Trends
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References:
CBS Detroit: Dice.com: Detroit No. 5 in Nation in Tech Job Listing Growth
Crain’s Detroit Business: Getting warmer: Investment climate changes for the better