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Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →A 2020 report put Washington fifth among states for the share of its workforce in technology jobs, at 13.2%. That is a dated study finding, not a verified estimate of Washington’s current workforce. The report also showed why a single percentage cannot capture the state’s technology economy: Washington scored strongly on some measures, including technology-related services exports and high-tech wages, but less strongly on others.
What the 13.2% figure means
GeekWire reported on Aug. 7, 2020, that a study prepared by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) for the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) placed Washington fifth for technology workers as a share of the workforce. The reported share was 13.2%. The comparison in that coverage listed the District of Columbia at 23.3%, Virginia at 17.4%, Maryland at 15.2%, Massachusetts at 14.2%, Washington at 13.2%, and California at 13.1%. GeekWire’s 2020 report coverage
Those percentages describe the study’s report-era comparison. They should not be read as a current estimate: the available report page does not provide a newer Washington figure, and the reviewed sources do not establish a current, consistently defined measure for comparison.
How the study assessed state technology economies
ITI says the report presented statistical portraits of all 50 states, 435 congressional districts, and the District of Columbia, using 34 economic indicators. ITIF authored the report for ITI. Its measures included high-tech goods and services exports, workforce education, skills and wages, and innovation indicators such as startup activity and public research-and-development funding. ITI’s report methodology page
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This breadth matters: “tech economy” is not one labor statistic. The study combined measures of employment, pay, exports, startups, manufacturing and innovation. A strong result on one measure does not imply a leading result on all the others.
Where Washington stood out in the 2020 account
GeekWire’s account of the study reported that technology-related services made up 57% of Washington’s services exports. It also reported an average Washington high-tech wage of $131,830, ranking the state fourth, and said technology jobs accounted for 25.8% of wages in the state. These are figures reported from the 2020 study, not present-day wage or export estimates. GeekWire’s 2020 report coverage
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Why startup measures gave a different picture
The same account described a substantial startup count but a smaller share of tech workers employed at startups. Washington had 5,044 startups, ranking twelfth, and 18.2 startups per 10,000 workers, ranking sixth. Yet 9.4% of its technology workers were at startups, ranking thirty-fourth; 1.2% of all Washington workers were employed at high-tech startups, ranking tenth. Each figure is from the report-era account, not a current count or ranking. GeekWire’s 2020 report coverage
The distinction is useful: a state can have many startups, or high startup density, without startups employing a large fraction of its technology workforce. Counts, density and employment share answer different questions.
What the findings can—and cannot—tell you
The study is useful as a historical snapshot of how several dimensions of technology activity were compared across jurisdictions. GeekWire’s account characterized Washington as strong in IT services exports and high-tech wages, while reporting weaker high-tech manufacturing performance and a relatively low share of technology workers at startups. Those descriptions refer to the 2020 study and should not be treated as current rankings.
The report attributed this observation to its findings: “The data make clear that technological innovation is woven through the entire U.S. economy—including every congressional district,” according to the report. GeekWire’s 2020 report coverage
For a current estimate of Washington’s technology workforce, the 13.2% figure is not enough. A valid update would require a newer labor-market series with a clearly specified definition of technology work and a comparable denominator. The reviewed ITI page establishes the study’s scope and indicators but does not expose the Washington figure’s underlying data table or full indicator definitions. ITI’s report methodology page
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