BOSTON — Greater Boston continues to reinforce its position as one of North America’s premier destinations for technology workers and employers, with a powerful combination of an established workforce, universities and a growing concentration of artificial intelligence expertise.
Boston advanced two positions to No. 7 among North America’s top tech talent markets in CBRE’s 2026 Scoring Tech Talent report. CBRE evaluates markets using 13 metrics that include tech talent concentration, talent pipeline and research-and-development investment. (CBRE)
For professionals considering a move to Massachusetts — particularly those working in software development, artificial intelligence, engineering and other specialized technology fields — the ranking highlights an important advantage of the Boston region: its ability to continually produce new talent while maintaining an established technology ecosystem.
Boston Moves Up in the Tech Talent Rankings
Boston earned a 62.88 Tech Talent Score, placing it seventh in CBRE's 2026 ranking.
The top 10 markets were:
1. San Francisco Bay Area
2. Seattle
3. Toronto
4. New York Metro
5. Austin
6. Washington, D.C.
7. Boston
8. Dallas-Fort Worth
9. Vancouver
10. Waterloo Region
Boston's two-position climb is particularly notable because the six markets ahead of it remained unchanged from the previous year.
According to the graduate data provided for the ranking, the Boston region produced 17,022 tech degree completions in 2024, second among the markets included in that comparison.
Even more significant is the direction of the trend.
Tech degree completions in the region increased 26.3% between 2021 and 2024.
That expanding pipeline matters because technology employers are increasingly competing for specialized expertise rather than simply searching for the market with the largest overall technology workforce.
For companies considering Massachusetts, the region's educational infrastructure provides a recurring source of newly trained workers. For newcomers, it creates an environment where universities, research institutions, startups and established employers operate within the same broader innovation ecosystem.
AI Is Becoming an Even Bigger Part of Boston's Technology Story
Boston's position becomes especially important as artificial intelligence reshapes technology hiring.
CBRE reports that the AI workforce across the United States and Canada grew approximately 45% to 751,000 workers by mid-2026. Boston had approximately 27,494 AI-specialty workers, making it one of North America's largest AI employment centers.
Boston also stands out when AI workers are measured as a share of its overall technology talent.
Approximately 17% of Boston's tech talent has AI-specialty skills, according to CBRE's analysis of LinkedIn Talent Insights. That puts Boston alongside New York and Austin and behind only the San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle among the most concentrated major AI talent markets identified by CBRE.
CBRE describes AI software and hardware developers as among the technology workers most sought after by employers.
That shift could increase the value of Boston's longstanding strengths in higher education and research. Producing graduates in computer science, engineering, mathematics and related disciplines provides a foundation from which employers can recruit workers for increasingly specialized roles.
What This Means for Tech Professionals Moving to Massachusetts
For someone considering relocating to Massachusetts for a technology career, Boston's ranking provides a broader picture than a simple count of available jobs.
The region combines several characteristics that can influence long-term career opportunities: a large existing technology workforce, a substantial pipeline of graduates, research institutions, established employers and an increasingly significant AI talent cluster.
Boston's educational pipeline is particularly important because graduates do not necessarily remain in the cities where they attend college. CBRE notes that tech graduates frequently move toward markets offering stronger employment opportunities and compensation.
Greater Boston therefore operates on both sides of the talent equation: it produces large numbers of technology graduates while also competing nationally to attract and retain experienced professionals.
Massachusetts Remains Positioned for the Next Technology Cycle
Technology hiring is evolving, and the skills employers need are changing with it.
The growth of artificial intelligence means companies may increasingly prioritize workers with expertise in machine learning, data science, software development and other specialized disciplines.
Boston's rise to No. 7 in CBRE's 2026 North American tech talent rankingsuggests Massachusetts remains well positioned for that transition.
For newcomers evaluating where to build a technology career — and for companies deciding where to establish or expand operations — Greater Boston offers something increasingly valuable: not simply a large technology workforce, but an ecosystem capable of continually developing the specialized talent that the next generation of technology companies will need.
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