How Many Developers are There Per Zip Code in America?

Written by:
PK

We've recently been writing posts about the number and concentration of developers in the United States: How Many Developers are There By State? and How Many Developers are There By County?  Today we'll be zooming in even further and estimating the number of developers there are per zip code.

Further down the page we've also included a calculator for you to lookup whichever zip code you'd like.

How Many Developers are There Per Zip Code in America?

Once again, we are dividing developers into three categories - a 'core' development category and a number of other professions where software proficiency is usually essential to the job.  Both the raw data and the calculator maintain the divisions between the three.

We made a number of choropleths with the data.  Here are two of them - we'd suggest using a 4K monitor to view them(!).

Developers per Zip Code in the United States
Developers per Zip Code, 2016 - Click to Zoom

Here's a zoom of (raw number of) developers in California:

Developers Per Zip Code in California in 2016
Developers Per Zip Code in California in 2016 (Click to Zoom)

Top Zip Codes for Developers in America

Based on our Category 3 division, here are the top 15 zip codes for the number of developers:

RankZip CodeDevelopersPercentage of Workforce
194087749922.21%
295051711219.25%
394536690417.46%
494086637822.32%
594538611417.45%
698052586515.76%
794110562211.45%
895035530913.83%
995014506516.28%
1094539493517.21%
1195050476519.03%
1220147475512.42%
139212646139.64%
1494587451711.49%
1598034412315.90%

And based on the percentage of workforce, here are the top fifteen (not a lot of movement):

RankZip CodeDevelopersPercentage of Workforce
194085297522.36%
294089268722.36%
39500228722.36%
494086637822.32%
594087749922.21%
695051711219.25%
795134202019.03%
89505329319.03%
995050476519.03%
1095054309019.03%
1194536690417.46%
1294538611417.45%
1394539493517.21%
149430437116.95%
1594306265316.95%

Lookup the Number of Developers in a Zip Code

Ready to look up any one of the 32,131 zip codes in our data set?  Here's the calculator you'll need:

Methodology for Estimating Out Developers Per Zip Code

We had to do a bit of work to get these estimates.

The numbers originate from the 2016 American Community Survey crossed with the BLS Standard Job Classification System (our definition of 'developers' is laid out in our first article of the series).  Next, we divide the population into the Public Use Microdata Areas (PUMAs), which are the smallest geographic divisions provided in the public microdata files.

Getting from PUMAs to Zip Codes is a bit complicated.  We used the Missouri Census Data Center's online Geographic Correspondance Engine and exported crosswalks based on 2012 estimated populations.  After that, a Python script walked through each PUMA and added the numbers up for each zip code.

If that's too many steps, you can grab the raw data behind the calculator here:

Zip Code to Developer Worksheet (CSV)

The raw data is from the University of Minnesota:

Steven Ruggles, Katie Genadek, Ronald Goeken, Josiah Grover, and Matthew Sobek. Integrated Public Use Microdata Series: Version 6.0 [dataset]. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, 2015. http://doi.org/10.18128/D010.V6.0.

Other Developer Geographic Breakdowns

Developer Concentration in America

Looking at the numbers at this resolution reveals how dominant engineering is in the Bay Area.  There are a number of zip codes in the Bay Area where more than 1 in 5 employed workers need software proficiency for his or her job.

The zip code zoom also lets us see some other hot engineering spots.  Seattle is especially prominent, as is Chicago, Boston, Washington D.C. and Dallas.  Print out a copy of the bigger map and look around - you might be surprised to see where engineers and developers are living!

Anything interesting pop out to you in the data?  How many developers live where you live?

      

PK

PK started DQYDJ in 2009 to research and discuss finance and investing and help answer financial questions. He's expanded DQYDJ to build visualizations, calculators, and interactive tools.

PK lives in New Hampshire with his wife, kids, and dog.

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