The company Mendix has analyzed thousands of job adverts for U.S. software developers against three million U.S. households. The survey results have been passed on to Digital Journal. This review was undertaken to help establish which states are the growth hubs for technology development. As the economy attempts to get back on track, technology firms are seen as key to the revival. Mendix develops low-code, designed to make things easier for companies to create applications without as many developers on staff.

Interestingly, Silicon Valley is not the place with the highest demand for developers at the present time. The area that has the strongest growth trajectory is Cumberland County, New Jersey.

As a challenge to the so-termed “coastal elite” regions being the technology hot-spots, there are other areas that have the highest demand for developers. These are areas that are more often considered to be mid-state heartlands, and they include:

Minnehaha County – S. Dakota

Pontotoc County – Mississippi

Ouachita County – Arkansas

Rock Island County – Illinois

Iroquois County – Illinois

Ector County – Texas

Morgan County – Utah

Roanoke County – Virginia

Stearns County – Minnesota

The survey also reveals that, unsurprisingly, that the COVID-19 has changed everything, launching a cascade of disruption. There are other trends to note, however, and businesses should take note of these. For example, companies are decentralizing talent away from established tech hubs using virtual teams and cloud technology. Despite the shifting from geographical areas to virtual ones for digital services, in terms of employment it stands that 92 percent of the job adverts analyzed require a specific location.

The research indicates which regions are most likely to become more competitive (what are also called ‘fly-over states‘, to indicate ordinarily less interesting locales). Identifying these areas is important for the post-coronavirus economic recovery.