Watch out Silicon Valley, the Atlanta tech community is on the rise.
» RELATED: Atlanta considered one of the top 5 up-and-coming tech meccas in the nation
The metro, home to the fourth largest tech hub in the United States (Atlanta Tech Village), was ranked among America's "Tech 25" in June, a list of 25 American regions deemed the best in tech by global real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield.
Researchers at the firm considered several factors to determine which cities would make up the Tech 25, including each metro’s institutions of higher learning, investment funding, well-qualified workforce, entrepreneurship and more.
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Together, the tech cities outperformed the U.S. in job, income and rent growth over the past seven years, making them some of the biggest drivers of the country’s economy, according to Cushman & Wakefield.
Big names in tech such as Silicon Valley (San Jose, California); San Francisco, California; and Washington, D.C. rounded out the top three tech-centric markets.
Atlanta, home to several high-profile universities such as Emory University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Spelman College and others, is No. 17 on the list.
The metro saw an average growth entrepreneurship of approximately four percent based on the rate of startup growth in the last five years, the number of companies that averaged 20 percent growth over the last three years and the number of businesses creating several jobs.
In April, according to the Technology Association of Georgia, there were nearly 5,000 job openings in technology.
The Tech 25:
- San Jose, California (Silicon Valley)
- San Francisco/San Mateo, California
- Washington, D.C.
- Boston/Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill, North Carolina
- Seattle, Washington
- Austin, Texas
- Denver/Boulder, Colorado
- San Diego, California
- Madison, Wisconsin
- Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota
- Baltimore, Maryland
- Oakland/East Bay, California
- Portland, Oregon
- New York City, New York
- Chicago, Illinois
- Atlanta
- Los Angeles, California
- Columbus, Ohio
- Orange County, California
- Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas
- Kansas City, Missouri
- Indianapolis, Indiana
- Salt Lake City, Utah
- Nashville, Tennessee
» RELATED: Full Tech 25 report and analysis
This isn’t the first time Atlanta has been recognized for its burgeoning reputation as a tech city.
Forbes recently referred to the city as one of the top five up-and-coming tech meccas in the nation.
More Atlanta tech and jobs news:
- Atlanta tech jobs: some skills in high demand — (Good pay, too)
- Two metro Atlanta cities named 'most genius' by Time.com
- These are the highest-paying companies in Georgia right now
- The top 5 highest-paying tech careers - and where you can get one in Georgia
- Need a job in 2017? Atlanta named No. 6 best city for job seekers
- Atlanta's job outlook — best if you're a techie (or a pilot)
- These metro Atlanta jobs are making the biggest hires in June