What are the top US cities for blockchain and cryptocurrency jobs? This question has been asked before, but never adequately answered. Previous attempts have focused solely on an analysis of internet job postings. But is a simple tally of job board postings truly the best and most complete way to evaluate the true climate for blockchain jobs? We didn’t think so. So we set off on a months-long mission to put together the most exhaustive and comprehensive ranking of the best US cities for blockchain jobs.
We utilized a data-driven approach consisting of an analysis of five key indicators of the overall health of blockchain job markets in more than 300 cities across the US.
We started by examining over 3 millions job listings across four sites and isolated blockchain-specific jobs. But this was the easy part and this factor makes up only 30% of our overall ranking.
Next, we evaluated cities by the number of top blockchain startups, the number of new blockchain companies in the last 120 days, the number of crypto funds, and the status of the overall employment market. This results in a far more thorough and holistic examination of the current climate for blockchain jobs in each city, and also serves as an indicator for potential growth of the job market.
Blockchain Jobs Criteria
Job boards give an incomplete picture of a city’s true job market. Many companies don’t advertise on public boards and instead rely on headhunters, recruiters, and referrals. Job boards are also, at best, a static snapshot in time. A few companies engaging in a brief hiring spree may distort the findings.
Instead of relying purely on job board postings, we employed a multi-factor approach and examined five key indicators of the health of each city’s blockchain jobs market. Those factors are:
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# Blockchain Job Postings – 30%
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Top 300 Blockchain Companies (weighted) – 30%
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# of New Blockchain Startups in Last 120 Days – 10%
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Crypto Hedge Funds and Venture Capital – 20%
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Overall Health of Job Market – 10%
We feel this data-heavy, multi-factor approach gives a much more complete picture of the true vibrancy of a given blockchain job market than relying on job postings alone. The number of blockchain companies headquartered in each city is less prone to day-to-day gyrations than job postings and gives a macro view of the blockchain landscape. We supplement this with data on new blockchain startups from the last 120 days.
The number of crypto and blockchain funds, particularly venture capital, is a good indicator of investors’ outlook for the technology and blockchain sectors. Investors figuratively put their money where their mouth is. And if their money is in a given city, you can bet they see a strong future for growth. As an example of this phenomenon, Robinhood, a cryptocurrency exchange based in Palo Alto completed a $363 million Series A financing round in May 2018. Four of the six investors were Bay Area venture firms.
Lastly, we look at employment numbers for each metropolitan area as a broader indicator of the health of each city’s employment market.
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Top 20 US Cities for Blockchain Jobs
Enough about methodology, let’s get to the list of the top US cities for blockchain jobs:
Few will probably be surprised that New York and San Francisco lead the list of top cities for blockchain and cryptocurrency jobs. Both have thriving technology sectors, an abundance of talent from the top universities in close proximity, well developed financial and capital markets, and are generally viewed as desirable places to live.
That Chicago, Los Angeles, and Boston round out the top five is also likely not a surprise for many of the same reasons. However, some may find Austin, TX coming in at number seven a bit unexpected. Yet Austin is quite deserving of this rank, placing among the top 10 in four of the five criteria. Other cities making the top 20 that may not have been obvious contenders are Atlanta, Denver, Portland, and Nashville.
Eight of the top 20 cities for blockchain jobs are in the Bay Area. All have become hubs for technology companies over the last decade and it’s no shock that blockchain companies are opening up in an area with what’s arguably considered the most concentrated and developed technology ecosystem in the world.
Read City-by-City analysis here…
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