Huntsville tops tech talent rankings, again
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Huntsville is the top up-and-coming city for tech talent for the fifth year in a row, per the latest annual report from commercial real estate firm CBRE.
Why it matters: The Scoring Tech Talent report from CBRE highlights a key selling point that's helped propel Huntsville's growth: its educated, skilled and tech-savvy workforce.
The latest: Huntsville topped the list of CBRE's "Opportunity Markets," or smaller areas that "offer additional talent pools to employers seeking to expand their geographical reach, uncover opportunities and increase cost efficiency," per the report.
- Ranked separately from the top 50 markets, which features cities like San Fransisco, Seattle and New York, Huntsville landed at No. 1 and was followed by Halifax and Colorado Springs. Birmingham ranked No. 13.
What they're saying: "Our talent is our No. 1 draw," Lucia Cape, senior vice president of economic development with the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce, told Axios.
- "If you have the basic infrastructure — many places are going to have sites, buildings and infrastructure — the distinguishing characteristic is going to be your talent."
By the numbers: Huntsville has 25,910 tech employees as of 2025, a number that's up almost 18% over the three years prior, per CBRE.
- Those jobs carry an average $123,142 wage, which has grown 9.5% over the past three years.
- Software developers in Huntsville make $124,470, up 7% over three years, and in 2024, the city produced 988 graduates with tech degrees.
How it works: While other cities may have better individual scores on those metrics, the ranking takes them all together and scores them against each other, separate from the larger markets.
- The ranking counts high-tech jobs across all industries, of which there are about 6.3 million in the U.S., a number that's growing faster than the country's workforce as a whole.
- Being on that "up-and-comers" list "keeps us hungry," Cape said.
Context: Local and state officials continually point to workforce as a key selling point for Huntsville in landing major investments from Eli Lilly to Blue Origin.
Zoom out: Artificial intelligence is quickly reshaping the tech industry.
- CBRE's report says AI-driven job cuts have grown from near-zero in 2023, to more than 100,000 in 2025 across all industries.
What we're watching: "The focus on AI is particularly important, because we have put so many resources locally to making sure we are prepared for what AI is going to bring to the market," Cape said.
- She said that includes the AI Task Force established by Mayor Tommy Battle and the incorporation of AI into curriculums at local K-12 schools and colleges, which see workforce as a key part of what they do.