Job growth that wasn’t as “outstanding” in 2016 compared with 2010 lowered Phoenix’s ranking from No. 11 to to No. 17  in CBRE’s annual Scoring Tech Talent Report.

CBRE Research rates tech job growth on a five-year rolling average, and the Phoenix area’s tech job growth was among the strongest in the country from 2010 to 2012, said CBRE’s Phoenix office Executive Vice President Kevin Calihan. But last year’s job growth wasn’t up to muster.

“When our market leading growth in 2010 was replaced by good, but not as outstanding job growth in 2016, our ranking took a hit. Phoenix had good job growth in 2016, but other cities had similar growth,” Calihan said.

CBRE’s annual Tech Talent Report scores and ranks the top 50 U.S. and Canadian markets by their ability to attract and grow tech talent. Last year, Phoenix was ranked No. 11, and was also ranked No. 6 on the list overall of top “momentum markets,” based on a tech talent growth rate of 58.1 percent since 2010.

The rankings are determined through 13 metrics, including tech talent supply, concentration, cost, completed tech degrees, industry outlook for job growth and market outlook for both office and apartment rent cost growth.

The Phoenix area is also continuing to see its skilled workers leave for other states, as part of a “brain drain.”

CBRE’s report noted Phoenix’s brain drain included 3,100 workers. The team at CBRE looks at the “brain drain” as a positive thing, though, Calihan said.

The brain drain is an example of Arizona producing more skilled tech workers than it is able to hire, he said.

“Thus our market has room for additional employers to enter the market and hire local graduates. This should allow us to continue our impressive job growth into the future,” Calihan said.

There’s still plenty to brag about when it comes to technology in Phoenix.

Phoenix ranked No. 9 for technology employment growth with a growth rate of 33.5 percent from 2011 to 2016. The city’s tech employment growth beat out markets like Seattle, New York, Austin and Los Angeles in the same time period.

Phoenix has the 13th largest tech talent pool with 83,140 people in tech jobs, and these workers earned an average wage of $86,231 last year, according to the report.

The cost of business is still cheaper than the bigger markets like the Silicon Valley area and New York. The estimated cost of business in Phoenix, accounting for annual wages and rent, is $39 million. Utah is Arizona’s only neighboring state with a lower cost of business at $36.2 million.

“In addition to Phoenix’s deep skilled labor pool and relatively affordable operational environment, we’re also seeing strong tech employment growth, which is a good signal to employers that Phoenix has the momentum to meet their long term employment needs,” Calihan said. “More millennials are coming to realize Phoenix is an affordable place to live, offering them a higher quality of life than some other larger markets. The high cost of living in other large markets is becoming cost prohibitive.”