Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning have received a lot of attention from technologists over the past few years. Mastering these skills will open you up to all kinds of great opportunities and greatly increase your rewards. Almost every organization, from the biggest technology companies to the smallest startups, seems interested in hiring AI professionals.
So which states are hiring the most for AI professionals? For answers, check out CompTIA’s monthly jobs report, which analyzes job listings to determine tech hiring trends. Here is the complete chart: As you can see, the state with the most mature technology hub in the country is also keen to hire AI professionals.
The notable increases in Texas, Florida, and Illinois are interesting. During the pandemic, Texas did its best to encourage the migration of engineers and technology companies from Silicon Valley to cities like Austin. The effort was successful, and since 2020, many tech giants have built new headquarters or major facilities in the state, including Oracle, Apple, Hewlett-Packard, and Tesla.
Florida also seeks to encourage high-tech immigration, emphasizing quality of life and lack of a state income tax. Chicago is also doing its best to attract engineers. As these cities draw in more technology activity, AI-related jobs are likely to increase significantly. Our growing technology hub has the resources and talent base to power larger AI projects.
Late last year, O’Reilly estimated the average salary for data and AI professionals to be $146,000 a year, based on a survey of 2,778 respondents in the United States and 284 respondents in the United Kingdom. The highest average pay was in California ($176,000), where many companies (like Google) compete fiercely for AI talent. As more companies across the country develop AI strategies, these salary amounts are likely to increase along with the number of jobs available.
