Forget about Silicon Valley. Technology employment in the Las Vegas Valley is projected to grow at the highest rate in the country this year.
Net tech employment in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, a rapidly growing tech startup hub, will grow 4 percent — creating 1,529 new jobs and increasing the local tech workforce to almost 40,000 workers — according to a “State of the Tech Workforce 2026” report published by CompTIA (Computing Technology Industry Association), a global provider of vendor-neutral information technology (IT) training and certifications.
Overall in Nevada, tech employment is projected to increase 4.2 percent, the highest percentage increase among all states.
“While our forecast reflects the most up-to-date data available at this time, we acknowledge that many factors, domestic and international, known and unknown, may impact economic conditions and labor markets,” Seth Robinson, CompTIA’s vice president of industry research, said in a statement. “Still, the fundamentals of tech employment remain on solid footing. As companies continue to invest in (artificial intelligence), cybersecurity, data analytics, infrastructure and other areas, they will also need skilled tech professionals to make those investments pay off.”
All 50 states are projected to produce tech employment job gains this year, with 25 states expected to match or surpass the projected national growth rate of 1.9 percent.
According to the report, the estimated median wage for a tech worker in Las Vegas is $92,509, which is 107 percent higher than the median wage for all occupations in the metro area. It also states that there are more than 4,300 tech business establishments in Las Vegas and the local tech industry contributes an estimated $8.4 billion to the state economy.
Several local and regional startups were showcased recently at UNLV Innovation Day, where Dr. Jeffrey Cummings, director of the Chambers-Grundy Center for Transformative Neuroscience in the Department of Brain Health at the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV, was excited about the growth of the life sciences ecosystem.
“I am so enthusiastic about the innovation resources that are visible in UNLV and in Southern Nevada generally,” he said. “There are many innovation programs, including the Black Fire accelerator at UNLV. There is a new Roseman Bioventures enterprise that I think is going to have an important impact. There is an organization called BioTechVegas.
“So there’s an explosion of biotech interest and innovation in Southern Nevada that is going to drive new medication ahead for everyone.”
Per the report, hiring activity measured by job postings reveals a market increasingly dominated by AI skills hiring. In January, more than 275,000 active job postings nationally referenced a need for some level of AI skills. This included dedicated AI positions, such as AI engineers or AI architects, and jobs that required AI fluency and the ability to utilize and optimize AI tools to perform tasks and boost productivity.
The following seven sectors account for approximately 74 percent of hiring activity via job postings for AI skills: technology; professional, scientific, technical services; finance and insurance; manufacturing; administrative services; retail; and healthcare and social services.
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on X.
