What does this measure?

The share of jobs in high-tech occupations, expressed as a percentage of total jobs. Occupations are considered high-tech if they workers to use technology to accomplish their job.

Why is this important?

High-tech jobs are an important component of the economy because high-tech workers tend to be more skilled and more highly paid than other workers. In addition, a region's future vitality is tied to the strength of its high-tech occupations. Technology development is reinforced by the concentration of firms depending on a similar base of scientific knowledge and skilled workers. Communities with a higher proportion of high technology industries tend to attract more.

How is the Greater Capital Region performing?

In 2007, about 4% of all jobs in the Greater Capital Region were in high-tech occupations, higher than state and national proportions. Since 2001, the share of high-tech occupations in the regional level has been higher than the state and national levels. The number of high-tech jobs in the region has grown 33% since 1999, compared to 22% for the state and 17% for the nation.

Notes about the data

For this indicator, data were available only for the Albany-Schenectady-Troy metropolitan statistical area (which encompasses Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady and Schoharie counties) and not at the county level. The list of "high-tech" occupations was developed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) based on utilization of new technologies to perform work. As reported by the BLS, the list of occupations includes jobs like computer programmers, electrical engineers, aerospace engineers, network system analysts, database administrators, chemists and microbiologists.