Two years ago, some pundits and experts predicted the COVID-19 pandemic would end New York City as a tech hub. Within a year, though, it was clear those forecasts were wrong, with the city surpassing even Silicon Valley when it came to demand for technologists.

Two years after the pandemic began in earnest, it’s now apparent that New York City’s tech growth is sustained. The latest CompTIA Job Report shows the megalopolis’s tech-job postings exceeding those of other “hot” tech hubs such as Washington DC, Seattle, Atlanta, Boston, and San Jose. Check out the chart:

Even in the midst of the pandemic, it was clear that tech companies had no urge to move out of the city. Tech giants such as Apple, Amazon, and Facebook all secured large amounts of office space in Manhattan’s Midtown—and collectively hired more than 2,600 local technologists throughout 2020. In September 2021, Google announced it would spend an additional $2.1 billion on Manhattan real estate, expanding its already-considerable footprint. 

Of course, it’s not just the biggest tech companies hiring in New York City—organizations of all sizes and missions are pursuing a variety of technologists, from software developers to network engineers. That’s leading to an increase in salaries: According to the most recent Dice Tech Salary Report, the average technologist salary in New York City hit $115,510 in 2021, a rise of 12.8 percent over two years. Compensation-wise, that placed it just behind major tech hubs Silicon Valley (average tech salary: $133,204 in 2021) and Seattle (average tech salary: $118,729) and just ahead of Boston ($114,959), Denver ($114,096), and Washington DC ($112,697). 

In order to secure those high salaries, though, technologists need to have the experience and skills that organizations want. Specializing in “hot” skills such as machine learning and data science can open up all kinds of opportunities, but so can mastering disciplines that almost every organization needs, such as front-end development.