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Software:
Growing US Jobs and the GDP
Key Findings
US software jobs grew twice as fast as overall US jobs.
Nearly 1 in 10 US jobs results from the software economy (14 million jobs).
The software industry funds 22% of all domestic R&D.
Software jobs are growing quickly outside traditional tech hubs.
Software Job Growth 
In 2018, 39 of the 50 states (plus Washington, DC) experienced double-digit growth. Click on your state for job growth and GDP.
States at a Glance 
See the economic contributions of the software industry by each state. Click on each column header to sort the data.
*Bolded GDP figures indicate an increase of more than 10 percent since 2016.
States at a Glance 
See the economic contributions of the software industry by each state. Find your state by clicking through or by using the search box below. For state comparisons, please review this table on a desktop.
UNITED STATES
EMPLOYMENT
Software creates jobs for a wide variety of professionals in today’s workplaces — everything from software developers and web designers to project coordinators, administrative assistants, and accountants. The number of jobs created directly by the software industry has increased 7.3 percent since 2016. This report, from Software.org: the BSA Foundation and conducted in 2019 by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), captures the growth of the software industry in the United States and the sweeping economic impact it is making at state and national levels.
Total
14.4 million jobs
(includes indirect and induced impacts)
Direct
3.1 million jobs
GDP
Software is so much more than your desktop at work. Software is apps. Software is data. Software is cloud computing. It creates breakthroughs and drives growth in nearly every industry. Software empowers countless people and American businesses and improves our lives each day in ways big and small. Along with all this progress comes the dramatic, positive impact software has on our national economy each year.
Total Value-Added GDP
$1.6 trillion
(includes indirect and induced impacts)
Direct Value-Added GDP
$845 billion
WAGES
Average Annual Wage for Software Developers
$114,000
A software developer’s wage is more than twice the average annual wage for all US occupations, which was $51,960 in 2018.
RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
R&D Investment by Software Companies
$82.7 billion
22.1% of All Domestic Business
R&D in the US
The EIU compiled these data and economic impact assessments using publicly available government data, maintaining full editorial control of the process and using industry standard approaches. Any views or opinions expressed in this document are not necessarily those of The Economist Intelligence Unit.
Top 10s 
Total Job Growth
| 1. Nevada | 35.6% |
| 2. Washington | 33.3% |
| 3. South Dakota | 32.1% |
| 4. Wyoming | 31.3% |
| 5. California | 30.7% |
| 6. New Hampshire | 28.4% |
| 7. Colorado | 25.1% |
| 8. South Carolina | 23.7% |
| 9. Montana | 23.2% |
| 10. Louisiana | 22.6% |
Direct Job Growth
| 1. New Hampshire | 24.2% |
| 2. South Dakota | 17.0% |
| 3. Washington | 16.8% |
| 4. Louisiana | 16.4% |
| 5. Montana | 14.8% |
| 6. Missouri | 13.6% |
| 7. South Carolina | 13.6% |
| 8. Florida | 13.0% |
| 9. California | 12.7% |
| 10. Nevada | 12.4% |
Direct GDP Growth
| 1. Nevada | 40.4% |
| 2. Washington | 37.6% |
| 3. California | 34.3% |
| 4. South Dakota | 29.3% |
| 5. Colorado | 27.4% |
| 6. Wyoming | 26.8% |
| 7. New Hampshire | 26.4% |
| 8. Georgia | 25.2% |
| 9. Florida | 24.2% |
| 10. Oregon | 22.5% |
Research and Development Investments
| 1. California | $40 billion |
| 2. Washington | $11.8 billion |
| 3. Massachusetts | $4.2 billion |
| 4. New York | $4.1 billion |
| 5. Texas | $2.7 billion |
| 6. North Carolina | $2.2 billion |
| 7. Colorado | $1 billion |
| 8. Georgia | $958 million |
| 9. Florida | $936 million |
| 10. Pennsylvania | $828 million |
Methodology 
In 2018 the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), the official source of US economic data, made revisions to their methodology to calculate GDP across industries, through their 2018 Comprehensive Update. The revisions included a new way of recognizing the economic value created when companies develop software for in-house use (“own-account software”). The new treatment is consistent with international standards, and the BEA notes that it “will provide improved measures of the sources of economic growth and productivity”.
Media
- Wall Street Journal: Corporate Tech Spending Helps Lift U.S. Economy, September 24, 2019.
- CIODive: Software eats the world, jobs double US employment growth rate, September 20, 2019.
- InfoWorld: Report: Software jobs pay twice the national average, September 20, 2019.
- TechRepublic: Report: Software jobs expected to grow twice as fast as overall US jobs, September 19, 2019.
- US News & World Report: Report: These States Benefit Most From the Software Industry, September 19, 2019.
- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: State added 20,800 jobs, nearly doubling average of last five Augusts, September 19, 2019.
- Colorado Springs Gazette: Report: Colorado software industry among nation’s fastest-growing, September 19, 2019.
- Press Release: US Software Jobs Grow Twice as Fast as Overall US Jobs, September 19, 2019.
- Connecting the Dots: Software: Growing US Jobs and the GDP, September 19, 2019.
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