Which US cities are gaining ground on the traditional top five tech hubs?
One question, asked of ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity in September 2026. Here is each answer, word for word, with the sources it cited.
US hubs · Which hubs are rising · A VC or LP comparing regions
ChatGPT
6
The traditional U.S. tech “Big Five” are usually considered:
San Francisco Bay Area (Silicon Valley)
Seattle
New York City
Boston
Los Angeles
But a second tier of cities has been steadily closing the gap by combining lower costs, universities, venture ecosystems, corporate relocations, and strong talent pipelines.
World Economic Forum
+1
Cities gaining the most ground
1. Austin — the former challenger that became a major hub
Austin is no longer just an “emerging” tech city. It has moved into the mainstream, with major presences from companies like Tesla, Oracle, and many startups. It remains one of the strongest alternatives to coastal hubs because of its engineering talent, university ecosystem, and business growth.
Chron
+1
Strengths
Software engineering
AI startups
Semiconductors
Enterprise software
Venture-backed companies
Challenge: Housing costs have risen sharply, reducing some of its original affordability advantage.
Business Insider
+1
2. Raleigh-Durham — the research powerhouse
The Research Triangle has quietly become one of the strongest tech ecosystems outside the coasts. Anchored by Research Triangle Park and universities such as Duke University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and North Carolina State University, it has deep talent in biotech, AI, software, and engineering.
FlippingBook
+1
Strengths
AI and data science
Life sciences
Cloud/software engineering
Research commercialization
Why it is rising: It offers many of…
Trimmed here; the full answer is in the viewer.
Named: Austin, Raleigh-Durham, Salt Lake City, Denver, Atlanta, Dallas, Miami, Pittsburgh, San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, New York City, Boston, Los Angeles, Georgia Tech, Columbus
Sources cited: weforum.org, chron.com, businessinsider.com, online.flippingbook.com, kore1.com, empoweringamericancities.com, nypost.com
Claude
Depends who you ask on the definition of "traditional top five" (usually Silicon Valley, Seattle, New York, Boston, and sometimes Austin or LA get lumped in), but here's who consistently shows up as the challengers in 2026 rankings:
Austin has basically graduated. It's the clearest success story — CBRE now ranks it a top-five tech talent market globally, right next to the San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle. Austin's tech workforce represents 13% of total employment with projected 4.4% annual growth, generating over $51 billion in economic impact, and it attracted over $5.3 billion in European tech investment in 2024 alone.
Top Emerging Tech Hubs 2026: Where Tech Is Hiring - KORE1 +2
The next wave behind it is fairly consistent across sources: Raleigh-Durham, Salt Lake City, Nashville, Denver, Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth, Phoenix, Tampa, Columbus, and Huntsville all show up as cities adding tech jobs faster than the coastal giants at lower cost.
KORE1
A few specifics worth flagging:
Raleigh-Durham — benefits from Duke, UNC, and NC State fueling pipelines in software engineering, biotech, data science, and cybersecurity; it's described as one of the safest all-around bets for 2026.
Matlen Silver
KORE1
Houston — quietly climbing fast: it jumped to No. 10 from No. 16 on Site Selection's 2026 North American Tech Hub Index, leveraging its energy-sector base into tech.
InnovationMap
Richmond — a dark horse, with 21.5 new AI job postings per 100,000 residents, nearly double the…
Trimmed here; the full answer is in the viewer.
Named: San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, New York City, Boston, Austin, Los Angeles, Raleigh-Durham, Salt Lake City, Nashville, Denver, Atlanta, Dallas, Phoenix, Tampa, Columbus, Huntsville, Houston
Sources cited: kore1.com, matlensilver.com, houston.innovationmap.com
Gemini
A secondary wave of high-growth US metropolitan areas is steadily closing the gap on the traditional top tech hubs (San Francisco Bay Area, New York City, Seattle, Boston, and Washington, D.C.). Driven by corporate expansions, top-tier research universities, lower operating costs, and strong regional talent retention, the leading cities making major strides include:
Inc. Magazine
Austin, Texas: Long considered the frontrunner of the non-coastal tech boom, Austin has firmly established itself as a tech heavyweight. Anchored by major operations from Apple, Google, and Tesla, tech roles now account for over 13% of the city's total employment.
SV Academy
+ 1
Dallas–Fort Worth, Texas: DFW has surged in tech workforce volume, capitalizing on corporate headquarters density (Toyota, AT&T, McKesson) and massive net tech employment growth in Texas.
KORE1
Raleigh–Durham, North Carolina: The Research Triangle leads in biotech, data, and software innovation. Powered by Duke, UNC Chapel Hill, and NC State, it consistently posts some of the highest tech job growth rates in the country.
Foothold America
+ 1
Salt Lake City / Provo, Utah: Known as "Silicon Slopes," the region boasts high enterprise SaaS and fintech density (backed by firms like Qualtrics and Pluralsight) alongside a young, educated workforce.
KORE1
Atlanta, Georgia: Supported by Georgia Tech's engineering pipeline, Atlanta serves as the dominant financial technology hub for payments processing alongside a rapidly…
Trimmed here; the full answer is in the viewer.
Named: San Francisco Bay Area, New York City, Seattle, Boston, Washington, D.C., Austin, Dallas, Raleigh-Durham, Salt Lake City, Atlanta, Georgia Tech, Denver, Phoenix
Sources cited: inc.com, kore1.com, footholdamerica.com, sv.academy
Perplexity
The clearest U.S. challengers are Dallas–Fort Worth, Nashville, Jacksonville, Pittsburgh, Huntsville, Colorado Springs, and Dayton. A broader earlier wave also elevated Denver, Miami, Salt Lake City/Provo, and Houston—evidence that tech employment and investment are becoming less concentrated in the legacy coastal centers.
brookings
+2
The leading gainers
Metro area Evidence of momentum Why it is gaining ground
Dallas–Fort Worth Added 37,230 tech-talent jobs from 2022–2025, a 19% increase—one of the largest absolute gains in North America and one of only nine markets where tech-job growth exceeded the new-tech-graduate supply. It is now CBRE’s No. 8 overall tech-talent market.
cbre
A deep corporate base gives it unusually strong demand for enterprise software, cloud, cybersecurity, data, and IT talent beyond pure-play tech firms.
Nashville Tech talent grew 34% from 2022–2025, the fastest rate among the major U.S. markets cited by CBRE; it rose six places to No. 33 in CBRE’s ranking.
cbre
Its healthcare and services economy creates demand for health IT, data, cybersecurity, and operational software skills.
Jacksonville Tech talent grew 23% from 2022–2025 and the market moved up four places to No. 39 in CBRE’s scorecard.
cbre
It benefits from Sun Belt population growth and a sizable finance, insurance, and business-services technology base.
Pittsburgh Improved three places to No. 28 in CBRE’s 2026 ranking, driven mainly by accelerated or above-average tech-talent growth.…
Trimmed here; the full answer is in the viewer.
Named: Dallas, Nashville, Pittsburgh, Huntsville, Denver, Miami, Salt Lake City, Houston, San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, New York City, Austin, Washington, D.C., Boston
Sources cited: cbre.com, brookings.edu
Published by PursueATL. Research by Resonate Labs. Data collected September 2026.