New York Dethrones San Francisco as Top Tech Talent Market

New York surpassed San Francisco's Bay Area in tech workers for the first time in 13 years, driven by AI hiring and Bay Area layoffs.

For the first time in 13 years of CBRE's annual analysis, New York's office market is home to more tech workers than San Francisco's. New York counted 394,300 tech talent jobs, edging out the San Francisco Bay Area's 375,730. According to CNBC, the report analyzes tech-specific workers across 75 metropolitan markets in the U.S. and Canada, marking a historic shift at the top of the rankings.

Colin Yasukochi, executive director of CBRE's Tech Insights Center, attributes the reversal to cuts in the Bay Area paired with New York's finance sector aggressively hiring tech talent. According to Mortgage Professional America, New York added 30,640 tech workers between 2022 and 2025 while the Bay Area shed 23,900 over the same period. The News Tribune reports the Bay Area's tech talent workforce dropped 6 percent from 2022 to 2025, while New York's grew by more than 8 percent.

AI-specific tech roles across the U.S. and Canada grew 45 percent year-over-year, reaching approximately 751,000 AI-related workers as of June. AI-related positions now account for nearly one-third of all U.S. tech-talent job listings. Both San Francisco and New York added more than 20,000 AI-specific jobs since mid-2025. According to Mortgage Professional America, AI roles account for 31 percent of U.S. tech postings, up from 11 percent at the mid-2022 peak, while the Bay Area's AI share has reached 57 percent of local tech postings.

Unlike the remote work culture that depressed office demand during the pandemic, AI companies operate with a heavily in-person workforce. Yasukochi notes that AI roles typically require workers in the office four to six days a week, making in-person collaboration central to the innovation process. In San Francisco, AI companies accounted for 58 percent of all office leasing in the first half of 2026 and have absorbed roughly 10 million square feet since 2023. According to Mortgage Professional America, tech companies overall accounted for 21 percent of all U.S. and Canadian office leasing in the first half of 2026, up from 13 percent in 2023.

Despite New York's overall headcount lead, San Francisco retains the top position on CBRE's 13-metric indexed scorecard. According to Mortgage Professional America, the Bay Area scored 81.98 against New York Metro's 70.38. The same publication reports that the Bay Area remains the undisputed center for AI specifically, with 98,699 AI-skilled workers versus 67,949 in New York. Mortgage Professional America further notes that the Bay Area has drawn 80 percent of all U.S. AI venture capital funding since 2020, citing Pitchbook and LinkedIn Talent Insights data in the CBRE report.

The decentralization extends well beyond New York and San Francisco. In Canada, 60 percent of AI jobs are concentrated in Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. According to Streamline Feed, Toronto added approximately 75,000 technology workers over the past three years. Mortgage Professional America reports that Dallas-Fort Worth added 37,230 tech workers between 2022 and 2025, with Nashville adding 12,540 and Charlotte 8,420. The News Tribune notes that Sacramento's tech talent workforce grew more than 8 percent over the same period, reaching 42,970, while Los Angeles and Orange County's tech workforce totaled 227,350.