When you think “geek”, the comic book collector and sci-fi enthusiasts no longer come to mind. Nowadays people associate the term with tech innovators. It’s become hip to be a geek again. But Silicon Valley isn’t the only city in American known for its geekiness.
Mintigo, a leading data-driven predictive marketing firm, analyzed technology usage patters; jobs and hiring of technology -related jobs; news and P.R. mentions about technology topics; website mentions of relevant topics and determined the top 10 geekiest cities in America.
Here they are and in Mintigo’s words:
1. New York City: All hail the king! Silicon Valley may have more programmers, but on a city-by-city comparison NYC wins the trophy. New York City has an immensely active tech startup scene and with the financial district in permanent need of technological assistance, it’s officially the Geek capital of America.
2. Chicago: The Windy City ranks high across the board on technology, despite few press mentions on the issue. Chicago is filled with top-tier universities and a vibrant job market, which – in spite of a less vocal start-up scene – makes it the best-kept secret in the tech industry.
3. San Francisco: It should come as no surprise to the world that San Francisco ranks highly on our list, given that it’s the #1 tech hub in the world for start-ups. It’s volatile and competitive job market makes the Golden Gate City a mecca of geeky opportunities.
4. Houston: Perhaps a surprising top-five city, Houston makes our list due to its booming manufacturing and trade industry as well as a rising demand for software services. Lest we forget, the majority of scientists and engineers work for manufacturers.
5. Washington, DC: When you think DC, your mind may jump to sly politicians and not geeky techies, but in reality the geeks outnumber the Frank Underwoods by a landslide. Government uses a ton of technology, and some very successful technology companies are headquartered in DC making it one of our top geekiest cities in the country.
6. Atlanta: Surprisingly, Atlanta has a bigger tech market than Seattle and a startup scene that’s comparable with San Diego. Most of the tech companies here are B2B and cluster in the finance, healthcare and security industries. Several major tech companies like Yahoo! and Square have satellite offices here as well. We’ll call it the low-key geeky kingdom.
7. Dallas: The Dallas area’s tech sector has roared back, and the geeks are starting to take notice. With 3,000 technology companies and nearly 230,000 high-tech employees, Dallas may find itself in the top five geekiest places to live within the next several years.
8. Seattle: The only surprise about Seattle is that it’s not higher on our list. With Boeing and Microsoft calling the rainy city its home, you can imagine how many geeks have flocked here over the years. Seattle also has a vibrant startup scene and is becoming more well-rounded as a tech city. Geeks hate the rain though, because it obviously ruins their electronics.
9. Boston: Boston comes in swinging in the startup arena, but isn’t nearly as strong as its rivals when it comes to established tech companies. We found that it has less tech indicators that those higher on the list, but it’s still a geek’s paradise nonetheless.
10. Austin: The Texas music capital is not just attractive to musicians, but very appealing to the younger geeks and techies because of its up-and-coming startup scene. It ranks high on new emerging technologies but lower than other cities on more established technologies.
Where did your city fall along on this list? Did the geeks at Mintigo who analyzed the data and came up with this listing get it right? Weigh in!
