With a diversified economy critical to any state’s long-term success, Missouri has supplemented its traditional strengths by exceeding the national average in tech industry job growth over the last 10 years. The trend is expected to continue through the next decade.
On the manufacturing side, Missouri was a top 10 state in Tech Manufacturing job growth in the last five years and is projected to remain that way for at least the next half-decade.
These are among the findings in the recently updated Technology2030 report from the Missouri Chamber Foundation. The tech sector has a growing presence and impact in the state and this latest research highlights its importance to the Missouri economy.
“We have a long history in manufacturing and this is a natural evolution of that strength,” said Daniel P. Mehan, president and CEO of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “Many manufacturers today utilize high-tech processes with high-paying jobs. And numerous other employers are technology-based and key contributors to the overall economy. We must continue to help them grow and thrive.”
Economic Leadership LLC, with a long history of evaluating state technology performance, compiled the report with the latest information available (primarily 2022 statistics). It looks at changes in Missouri and also compares all 50 states. The economic development community, policy makers and the tech industry are among those who can benefit from the research.
In 2022, Missouri’s technology industry employed nearly 159,000 people and workers earned almost $19 billion in income. The 16,710 tech establishments accounted for about 10% of the state’s total earnings and 9% of sales. In addition, there are 205,720 tech occupation jobs in non-tech Missouri companies.
A few of the key facts include:
- The tech industry in Missouri added 3,870 net jobs from 2021 to 2022 for 2.5% growth. In the last five years, that new job number exceeds 15,000, trailing only transportation/warehousing and construction in industry growth within the state.
- The top net job growth came in these tech occupations: Software developers, management analysts and data scientists. Leading growth percentages were in nuclear technicians, data scientists and aerospace engineering technologists.
- The average earnings (salary and benefits) per tech worker were $123,800 in 2022. That is almost 1.7 times higher than the earnings ($72,300) for workers across all industries in the state.
- The tech industry generated more than $38 billion in gross state product in 2022, equaling almost 10% of the state’s total economic output.
- For every job created in the tech sector, 1.82 additional jobs were created or supported in the economy. This trails only wholesale trade as a job multiplier in the state economy. This multiplier raises the tech sector’s impact on employment to 16% — meaning 448,358 jobs were directly or indirectly supported by the tech industry.
- The Environmental Technology and Information Technology subindustries have experienced double-digit growth in the last five years at 14% and 12%, respectively.
“Beyond these impressive numbers, the tech industry is proving to be a leader in other ways that are important to our state’s growth,” Mehan added. “We will continue to analyze the trends, take advantage of the opportunities and provide the business climate necessary for additional growth.”
Those “other ways” include a sixth-place ranking among all states in tech workforce diversity and 12th for women working in the tech industry. In addition, the turnover rate of 38% for the tech industry in 2022 was one of the lowest in the state’s economy.
Missouri ranks among the top 15 states in six performance indicators.
In technology infrastructure, the state earned high marks for affordable housing, tech transfer from universities, higher education funding and start-up job creation. More work needs to be done in broadband access and adoption, start-up early survival rates and reversing a decline in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) program completions