CBSAs, or Core Based Statistical Areas, are areas defined by the US Census Bureau as under the influence of a common urban cluster or area. CBSAs, compared to Combined Statistical Areas or CSAs, are a much finer division - CBSAs only guarantee a minimum of 10,000 people. With CBSAs, we can get a decently refined view of how a population is divided - great for continuing our American developers series!
In this post, we broke down our developer populations into CBSAs. Included on this page is an interactive table with populations, workforces, and engineers divided into a few classifications of 'developer'. Further, we also include developer concentration for those of you who'd rather look at influence across a workforce (or population-wide!). Enjoy!
Software Engineer and Developer Concentration by Core Based Statistical Area (CBSA)
Note, just like in our developers by CSA article, this table has some special features:
- Clicking the table headers allows you to sort the rows
- You can toggle column visibility with the preferences below the table
- Many columns are hidden to start
- Live search helps rapidly narrow the CBSA of interest
Want the data raw? Download it here.
Other Posts on Engineer and Developer Concentration
This is the fifth article in our series on developers in America. We've divided this data in quite a few ways for your viewing - or perhaps researching - pleasure:
- Number of Developers in America by State
- Concentration of Developers in America by County
- Number of Developers in America by Zip Code
- CSA Breakdown of Developers in America
...as of right now, this is the last planned entry on 2016 (full year 2015) developer demographics.
Methodology for CBSA Software Engineer Concentration and Distribution
We started with the data from the Developers in America by Zip Code post.
Next, as in the developer by CSA article, we downloaded crosswalks from the University of Missouri's Geographic Correspondence Engine for ZIP/ZCTA to CBSA, using 2012 population estimates. Once we had a population weighting, the last step converting ZIP codes to CBSAs is relatively straightforward.
Can You Explain the 3 Categories of Developers/Software Engineers?
'Category 1', 'Category 2' and 'Category 3' contain, progressively, more expansive definitions of 'software developer'. As you can't please everyone, we simply provide a few definitions - if you need something different you'll have to run those numbers yourself (see also: our contracting page). You can link back to the Developers by State post to see our reasoning.
The numbers map to the BLS's Standard Occupational Classification.
Category 1
1000 Computer Scientists and Systems Analysts/Network systems Analysts/Web Developers 1010 Computer Programmers 1020 Software Developers, Applications and Systems Software 1060 Database Administrators
Category 2
1400 Computer Hardware Engineers 1410 Electrical and Electronics Engineers 2840 Technical Writers 4930 Sales Engineers 7900 Computer Control Programmers and Operators
Category 3
0820 Budget Analysts 0830 Credit Analysts 0840 Financial Analysts 1200 Actuaries 1220 Operations Research Analysts 1230 Statisticians 1240 Mathematical science occupations, nec 1800 Economists and market researchers 5920 Statistical Assistants
These three definitions are already in the page - although most are hidden (we use the expansive definition, category 3, by default). Use the controls below the table to modify the visible columns.
Developer and Software Engineer Distribution by CBSA
We had a lot of fun with the Developer Breakdown by CSA article - but taking it a step further yields even more interesting insights (well, at least interesting facts).
Here's an interesting stat for me - from a quick scan, it looks like there are 5 CBSAs where no professional developers live (from any of the 3 categories):
- Altus, OK
- Elk City, OK
- Middlesborough, KY
- Rio Grande City, TX
- Zapata, TX
See anything interesting in the table? Let us know!
