The Western U.S. remains home to many of the nation’s largest technology hubs, combining strong concentrations of tech employers and workers with high wages and sustained innovation activity. CommercialCafe ranked the top 20 tech metros in the Western U.S. using metrics including tech business density and growth, tech employment density and growth, median tech earnings and earnings growth, patent activity, innovation organizations and quality-of-life indicators.

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Here are some of the key highlights:

Phoenix ranked 14th among the top 20 Western tech metros with 31.50 points.

  • The metro ranked 5th for tech establishment growth, posting an 11.5% increase from 2020 to 2023.
  • The metro placed 7th for organizations contributing to tech patent activity, with 365 organizations recorded from 2020 to 2024.
  • Phoenix ranked 8th for tech patents granted among the metros in the ranking, with 2,627 patents recorded during the five-year period analyzed.
  • Phoenix claimed the 11th-highest tech establishment density with roughly 22 companies per 1,000 in the metro.

The Western U.S. is the home of the American tech industry. From Silicon Valley to Seattle, the region’s largest metros account for the highest concentrations of tech jobs and the deepest patent records in the country. But, the West’s tech scene is no longer just a coastal one. Now, smaller and mid-size metros across Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Idaho, and Oregon are now among the fastest-growing tech markets in the country with the kind of conditions, low costs, strong universities, and aggressive recruitment from local economic development agencies that increasingly draw both companies and workers away from the coast.

With that in mind, we set out to rank the Western metros with the best conditions for the tech industry — and the workers it depends on — to thrive. Specifically, we evaluated every metro area in the region with a population above 200,000 for which all data was available (more than 70 metros in total) and awarded points across metrics covering the density and growth of tech establishments; the density and growth of tech employment; median tech earnings and their growth; a composite life-quality index; and five-year patent output. The 20 metros that rose to the top of that pool are profiled below.

San Jose, Calif., Outpaces Field as Colorado Lands 4 Metros in Western Top 20

San Jose, Calif., rose to the top of the West with 73 points out of 100 to finish nearly 20 points ahead of San Francisco on the strength of its tech workforce. In San Jose, some 15% of all jobs in the metro sit in computer and mathematical roles (the only figure in the study above 10%). Additionally, median tech wages hit $196,595 — the highest in the West — and the metro placed second on educational attainment.

San Jose firms were also granted roughly 67,000 USPTO patents between 2020 and 2024, which was nearly double the next metro on the list.