Boise earns no. 2 ranking among small cybercities

High tech job growth also gets city into number 12 spot for all of U.S.
By Tim Woodward
If you seem to be meeting more people with tech-tech jobs, its for a good reason.  Every 10th person in the Boise metro area now works in the high-tech industry.  Only eight other cities in the United States have a higher concentration of high-tech workers, according to a report released Tuesday by the American Electronics Association and the Nasdaq Stock Market.  Of every 1,000 private sector employees in the Boise metro area, 112 work in the high-tech jobs.

High tech in high gear
A new study shows that 112 of every 1,000 private sector workers in Ada and Canyon counties are employed by high-tech firms.

Boise metro area ranks:
   2nd - in high-tech job growth over the five-year period from 1993-98 for small cities.
   9th  - in percentage of high-tech workers per 1,000 jobs.
   12th - in high-tech job growth among U.S. cities of all sizes.
   26th - in households with a computer (59 percent).
   26th - in household access to the Internet (47 percent).

Metro Boise's high-tech numbers:
Jobs                19,398
Companies           293
Payroll              $907 million
Avg. wage             $46,766
Avg. private sector wage  $27,777

SOURCE: "cybercities: A City-by-City Overview of the High-Technology Industry"