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State of the Industry Report

Pittsburgh Technology Industry Growth Data from 2021-2023

This year’s State of the Industry Report compares three years of data for each of the six main technology industry clusters for three years ending 2023, the latest year for which complete data was available.

A region’s total annual payroll is the most significant measure of its wealth, and in southwestern Pennsylvania,  technology industry clusters examined herein account for nearly 28 percent of the region’s total workforce payroll.

Most technology industry clusters experienced positive growth in total annual payroll, with the exception of information technology and energy.

Environmental technology showed the most remarkable results with a nearly 16 percent increase in its total annual payroll, in keeping with a consistent growth pattern. In addition, the average wage for people working in the environmental cluster jumped nearly 11 percent over the three-year measured period.

The advanced materials cluster had the second highest payroll growth at 13.4 percent, also showing steady growth over three years. Its average wage followed suit at 7.5 percent growth.

Ever since health services has been reported as part of the life sciences cluster, it is important to note that its total annual payroll is the largest in this report at nearly $9 billion. It also has the highest number of employees at more than 104,000. The average wage for health services workers grew at the rate of 9.2 percent over three years. 

Southwestern Pennsylvania counties in the Pittsburgh region tracked for this report include Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Bedford, Butler, Cambria, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Lawrence, Somerset, Washington and Westmoreland.

The Pittsburgh Technology Council keeps records of a complete list of North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes for each subcluster in this report. These codes are routinely reviewed and reclassified to keep them relevant. As a result, data may shift slightly from year to year.

In addition, all data throughout this entire report may be routinely restated from previous years, due to late or revised filings.

However, the most significant change in the methodology for this year’s report is the manner in which totals are determined. In reports from previous years, cluster data was simply tallied to determine totals in each category. This did not account for subclusters and establishments that have been assigned multiple NAICS codes, thereby causing a certain degree of duplicating and inflating of the numbers. In this year’s report, top line totals in the highlights section directly below have been scrubbed to avoid this duplication.

Highlights:

  • The 10,367 technology establishments tallied in the year 2023 represent more than 13.7 percent of all companies in the 13-county region.

  • These firms employ 283,779 individuals and account for more than 23.2 percent of the area’s overall workforce.

  • The $27.5 billion annual payroll of technology and related companies, including the health services subcluster, represents more than 33.5 percent of the region’s total wages.

  • The average annual wages in the technology industry clusters examined here are significantly higher than all other industries in the region. Average wages in the region’s tech clusters have reached $100,129, while average wages for all industries is $67,329.

Report Data/Insights

PWC Six Generative AI Takeaways for CIOs

If you’re a chief information officer (CIO) or other technology leader, generative AI (GenAI) is likely creating a lot of pressure — and opportunity. As it becomes an integral part of business strategy and operations, you need to lead with confidence and pragmatism. On the one hand, your CEO and CFO want you to use it to cut costs and empower the business instantly. On the other hand, they also may expect you to help drive real enterprise change and fuel new business models. But that takes time and investment to establish a modern data architecture and build an AI factory. Meanwhile, a voice in your head may be asking: How can things be different this time around? You’ve seen other technologies come and go before they’ve been able to help drive meaningful outcomes for the business.

Read the report here.

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