New York Overtakes San Francisco as North America's Largest Tech Talent Market

New York has overtaken the San Francisco Bay Area as North America's largest tech talent market by headcount, according to a new report from commercial real estate firm CBRE, Alexei Oreskovic reported for Fortune Tech.

New York has overtaken the San Francisco Bay Area as North America's largest tech talent market by workforce size, according to CBRE.

The CBRE report found that the New York metropolitan area had 394,300 tech talent workers in 2025, compared with 375,730 in the San Francisco Bay Area.

New York's tech talent workforce grew by 30,640 between 2022 and 2025, while the Bay Area's workforce declined by 23,900. 

The shift has been helped by growing demand for AI talent from Wall Street and other industries in New York, while layoffs and contraction in parts of Silicon Valley reduced the Bay Area's overall tech workforce.

CBRE said New York's lead by headcount marks the first time in the report's 13-year history that it has surpassed the Bay Area. 

The Bay Area, however, remains the No. 1 market in CBRE's overall Tech Talent ranking, which evaluates factors beyond headcount, including talent concentration, talent pipeline and research and development investment.

San Francisco also continues to dominate the US AI ecosystem in several measures, including AI venture funding.