Seattle leads top 10 high-tech U.S. metros

A new study from Richard Florida, co-founder and editor of The Atlantic Cities, examines the top high-tech metropolitan areas in the U.S.

Florida ranked each metro using a calculated Technology Index Score, which combines a measure of the concentration of high-tech companies in an area with two measures of regional innovation: patents per capita and average annual patent growth.

Seattle came out on top, largely thanks to its status as the home of Microsoft, Amazon, and a number of other high-profile technology companies.

The top 10 list of high-tech metros with their Technology Index Scores is as follows:

1. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash. (.996)
2. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif. (.983)
3. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, Calif. (.976)
4. Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, Ore. (.956)
5. Austin-Round Rock, Texas (.955)
6. Raleigh-Cary, N.C. (.952)
7. San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, Calif. (.945)
8. Durham, N.C. (.940)
9. Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.-N.H. (.933)
10. Boulder, Colo. (.920)

The study is part of Florida’s new book, The Rise of the Creative Class, Revisited.

To see the rest of the top 20 list, click here.