The Midwest is seeing some of its strongest opportunities yet in tech. Fast-growing ecosystems are attracting investment and allowing startups to launch and scale locally, while global companies are selecting the region to expand their U.S. footprint. The advantage is clear: Technology is increasingly integrating into industries — like automotive, manufacturing, agriculture and health care — where the Midwest has decades of expertise. Therefore, companies can build upon existing foundations, rather than starting from scratch.
As part of our ongoing regional series examining tech ecosystems across the U.S., CommercialCafe ranked Midwest metros to identify where the tech sector and its workforce have the strongest foundations to succeed. Using the latest data, we selected all metro areas in the region with populations of more than 200,000 and awarded them points based on nine metrics, including density of tech establishments, percentage of jobs in tech, median earnings for tech workers, and a composite quality-of-life index. Keep reading to find out more about the ranking and each metro’s individual scores across indicators.
Madison Pulls Away From Ann Arbor to Secure 3rd Consecutive Midwest Tech Title
Madison, Wis., claimed the top spot for the third consecutive ranking — and, this time, by a considerably wider margin. In the previous ranking, Madison and Ann Arbor, Mich., finished neck and neck with Madison ahead by less than one point. This time around, Madison opened up a lead of more than six points over Ann Arbor and the rest of the competition.
Specifically, the Badger State capital remains the most concentrated Midwest metro for tech jobs, and that advantage has grown. Now, Madison’s tech job density has climbed to 77.7 per 1,000. To put that into perspective, 31,600 out of roughly 406,000 working-age residents work in tech-related roles. Moreover, no other metro on the list surpasses 50 tech jobs per 1,000. Plus, as a specialized bio health hub, it’s creating opportunities for graduates of the University of Wisconsin and attracting talent inflow, as well. At the same time, tech company density has also improved with Madison overtaking Minneapolis to move into second place, up from third in the last ranking. Additionally, Madison was runner-up in the quality-of-life index, placing second in educational attainment with more than half of residents holding at least a bachelor’s degree, as well as posting the second-lowest unemployment rate on the list.
Next, Ann Arbor, Mich., holds the highest concentration of tech companies in the Midwest with roughly 42.3 tech companies per 1,000 and ranks third for tech job density. The metro benefits from the talent output of the University of Michigan and boasts the highest educational attainment on the list with roughly 60% of residents holding a bachelor’s degree or higher. Notably, in recent years, the share of tech companies and tech jobs has consolidated, rather than increased. Yet, where the metro continues to excel is in output and success. To that end, last year was a record-breaking year for innovation and research at the University of Michigan, while homegrown startups continue to be acquired. For example, last year’s $600 million acquisition of SafeSend was one of the largest in the region. Even as some companies leave in order to scale, there’s an incredibly robust pipeline of spinouts and, equally, established firms that even post-acquisition choose to remain — like DuoSecurity, a unicorn acquired by Cisco in 2018.
Chicago kept its place on the podium with a typically dominant performance in output — a nod to its position as the largest metro in the Midwest. In this case, it recorded the highest tech patent output and the most organizations contributing to them by some margin on both counts. Furthermore, tech patent production totaled 8,683 to finish well ahead of second-place Detroit, while the 811 organizations that contributed to that total were double the next-best metro. Median tech earnings have also held firm and are fourth-highest in the region. Meanwhile, and noteworthy for such a diverse and established economy, Chicago has the fifth-highest density of tech companies as a share of firms across all industries with 25.7 such companies per every 1,000.
Just outside of the top three were two of the study’s more significant movers. First, the Sioux Falls, S.D., metro area jumped from 18th overall in the previous ranking to fourth overall this year. Just as it did last time, the metro was the fastest-growing for tech company expansion. Only, this time, job growth was also among the highest with tech employment up 76.8% from 2019 to 2024, driven, in part, by the metro’s deepening fintech cluster and continued expansion among major financial services employers. The metro also topped our quality-of-life index by posting the lowest unemployment rate of any metro as of September 2025. Living costs are also nearly 10% below the national average.
Next, and the last metro to score more than 50 points overall, was Lafayette, Ind. A newcomer to the top 20 standings, the metro was the fastest in tech job growth, runner-up in tech establishment increase and the fastest growth of median yearly incomes for tech workers among the top 20 list. It’s worth mentioning here that this metro is a beneficiary of its educational institutions — Purdue University and Ivy Tech — not only for talent (10,000 STEM students graduate annually) and innovation, but also for investment and infrastructure: The Purdue Research Park is the largest university-affiliated business incubator in the country. In other words, the infrastructure gives both startups and established companies room to grow.
Beyond Lafayette, there were two more newcomers and three returning (metros that made the top 20 back in our 2023 ranking) on this year’s list. Among those making a return: Lincoln, Neb., comes in at #8 and ranks in the top five for tech job density. Cincinnati reached #14 this year after  finishing 13th in 2023, while Springfield, Mo., (#15) reentered after placing 19th two years ago. The newcomers, Kalamazoo, Mich., (#18) and Grand Rapids, Mich., (#19) rounded out the fresh additions.
In fact, Michigan led all states with four metros in the top 20, while Missouri came in second with three. Five other states placed two metros each, and three states had one apiece. The takeaway: No single area or metro has a monopoly on tech innovation in the Midwest.
Ann Arbor Dominates Tech Establishment Density in Midwest
Well ahead of the competition, Ann Arbor, Mich.’s tech company concentration remains the highest in the Midwest at 42.3 out of every 1,000 companies. Much of that density was established before our data period beginning in 2019, with growth remaining relatively flat in recent years. Still, via a period of consolidation, the tech ecosystem has matured into a diversified one, and any number of its innovation strengths — from AI to autonomous vehicle development tied to its proximity to Detroit — could support renewed expansion.
Runner-up Madison, Wis., has seen its density of tech establishments grow slightly, increasing by 3.7% from 2019 to 2023 to bring its ratio to 31.8 tech companies per 1,000 establishments. Again, it appears as though Madison’s ecosystem is maturing. In 2024, fewer Wisconsin startups raised money than in the previous five years, but a larger share raised larger rounds of capital. That suggests consolidation around more established tech companies that have moved beyond early-stage growth and now attract more meaningful funding rounds.
Not to be outdone, Minneapolis was third with just under 30 per 1,000 companies. As the third-largest metro by population on the list, Minneapolis has seen a decline in the number of tech companies since 2019. However, with roughly 2,950 such companies operating in the metro area, it has the second-highest raw number in the region.
Interestingly, the top three for tech density achieved their concentrations through previous expansion, rather than recent growth. But, the same can’t be said for the next metro for density — Columbus, Ohio. At 26.8 out of every 1,000 companies, it has steadily increased its number of tech companies, up 11.1% in the 2019-to-2023 window. While incoming data centers and chip factories will likely spur supportive ecosystem tech companies, the last five years have already seen steady growth from startups. Independent of these large projects, the newbies are specializing in areas like insurtech (Root Insurance) and cybersecurity (Finite State). What’s more, Columbus’ 124 new tech companies represented the third-highest percentage increase and second-highest raw count on the list. Only Detroit surpassed it in absolute terms with 129 additions (6.3% growth, fifth-highest percentage). Columbus and Detroit were also the only two metros to add tech companies in triple digits during this period.
However, for the second consecutive year, the largest percentage increase in the number of tech firms in the Midwest occurred in the Sioux Falls, S.D., metro area, where the number of firms increased by 25.2% between 2019 and 2023. Here, the same business-friendly policies that attracted banking in the 1980s, which include favorable regulatory treatment, are now drawing fintech startups with support from initiatives like Startup Sioux Falls and Falls Fintech. In particular, companies like Pathward, which evolved from traditional banking to fintech, illustrate how tech growth has built upon the metro’s existing economic strengths. Admittedly, the actual number remains modest with 28 new companies bringing the total to 139.
Meanwhile, the second-highest percentage growth of local tech establishments took place in Lafayette, Ind., with a 16.7% increase. Its growth is closely connected to the research and investments of the metro’s educational institutions, such as Purdue’s STEM graduates per year who have gone on to start spinouts in engineering, AI and agtech. The metro is also part of the Hard-Tech Corridor — a 65-mile stretch of research parks, universities and manufacturing hubs running from Lafayette south via Lebanon, Ind., to Indianapolis — which helps explain how a smaller metro can achieve comparatively high tech density of 21.4 tech companies per 1,000.
Madison in a League of Its Own for Tech Job Density in Midwest
Madison, Wis., didn’t just lead the Midwest in tech job density with 77.7 out of every 1,000 jobs. It also widened the gap to the next-closest metro with a noteworthy 32.9% increase in tech jobs from 2019 to 2024. Granted, that increase wasn’t the highest in the Midwest. But, among the top six most-concentrated metros in the region for tech jobs, it was the highest growth rate.
In second place for tech job density, Columbus, Ohio, moved up four spots from the previous ranking thanks to 18.2% growth of tech jobs in the Ohio metro area during the same period. Not far behind, Ann Arbor, Mich., moved down to third with 49.3 tech jobs per 1,000, while Minneapolis is now just outside of the top three for tech job density with 48.8 per 1,000.
Overall, some shuffling of the rankings among the top four since the last report might have been inevitable given how close they are in density compared to each other.
Naturally, the fastest-growing metros are those with comparatively lower tech job density to start with. For instance, Lafayette, Ind., has grown its share of tech roles by 101.1%, which dovetails with its tech company increase. And, the metro’s tech job density looks set to increase further in the coming years as it has landed a major deal: South Korean semiconductor giant SK hynix will build a $3.87 billion advanced semiconductor packaging and R&D facility here that’s expected to create roughly 1,000 predominantly tech-related jobs.
Three other locations, all with modest-sized tech worker pools, rounded out the fastest-growing tech job markets — Springfield, Mo. (81% growth); Sioux Falls, S.D. (76.8% growth); and Kalamazoo, Mich. (61.9% growth). In this case, the uptick in tech jobs in Kalamazoo runs along the lines of the increase in hiring that Pfizer made as part of its $1.3 billion in expansions between 2020 and 2023, which would have included some tech roles, such as data science, cybersecurity and AI. Similarly, Stryker — the medical device company headquartered here — also grew quickly as a firm during the same period.
Otherwise, the next-closest — Grand Rapids, Mich., at 38.2% growth — was a considerable distance behind in terms of percentage. However, it started 2019 with nearly 13,000 tech workers. Besides these entries, 10 other metros in the top 20 witnessed double-digit tech employment growth since 2019.
6 Midwest Metros Cross $100,000 Median Tech Pay Threshold
When it comes to tech worker pay in the Midwest, Rochester, Minn., stands apart with a median income of $116,740. Of course, the smallest metro on the list punches above its weight thanks largely to the Mayo Clinic, which dominates the local labor market and hires extensively for data science, software engineering and cybersecurity roles. Moreover, with data science positions at the Clinic paying upwards of $145,000, those salaries pull the metro’s overall tech wages well above what a market this size would typically produce.
The $100,000 threshold has become more common across the region. In the previous ranking, only Rochester and Chicago exceeded it. Now, six metros cross that mark, including Rochester; Minneapolis; Des Moines, Iowa; Chicago; Madison, Wis.; and Ann Arbor, Mich.
Tech earnings growth was just as notable. More precisely, the two metros with the largest jumps in median tech pay between 2019 and 2024 both started from lower baselines and also led in tech job growth, suggesting that the new roles being created are higher-skill, higher-value positions.
In this respect, Lafayette, Ind., led the way with a 72.4% jump in median wages for tech workers after going from below $40,000 in 2019 to $68,490 five years later. Likewise, Springfield, Mo., was second with a 62.5% increase that brought its median income to $68,885 for tech employees.
Hot on its heels, Kalamazoo-Portage, Mich., saw median earnings increase 62.4% in the same period. But, thanks to a higher starting point in 2019, the median earning in 2024 was significantly higher than Springfield or Lafayette at $92,090.
Chicago Reigns Supreme in Number of Patent Grants
Chicago was far and away the Midwest leader in tech patent output with 8,683 patents granted between 2020 and 2024. While its sheer size is a major factor, so is the breadth of its innovation base: Patenting activity spans artificial intelligence and machine learning; biotech; advanced manufacturing; fintech; health tech; and emerging fields, such as quantum computing.
The next-largest metro in the Midwest for tech patents was Detroit with 5,926 tech patents granted in the last five years. What’s probably most significant about the patent output in Motor City is the average patents per participating organization. In Detroit, its total patents were produced by 296 organizations for an average of 20 per organization. For comparison, in Chicago, 811 organizations averaged 10.9 patents each — more than double the next-closest metro in terms of organizational participation. In other words, Detroit’s patents were the work of a lower number of high-output companies. This also speaks to the specialized nature of Detroit’s innovation around automotive, whereas innovation in Chicago was more decentralized and broad.
That said, two smaller Midwest metros showed even higher concentration rates than Detroit: Kalamazoo, Mich. — where just 11 organizations produced 274 tech patents (24.9 per organization), a concentration produced by the R&D operations of Stryker and Pfizer — and Lafayette, Ind., with 17 organizations producing 404 patents (23.8 per organization, on average).
Sioux Falls, S.D., Tops Life-Quality Index With Low Unemployment & Attractive Living Costs
Beyond tech-specific metrics, we looked at three factors to help assess a metro’s appeal to tech workers — educational attainment (a proxy for the talent pool), unemployment rate (economic health) and cost of living (spending power). For many Midwest metros, these perks are a core part of their appeal and, when combined with a solid tech infrastructure, they make for a compelling package.
That was the case for at least three Midwest metros that each scored above 10 points in this category. Sioux Falls, S.D., led with 11 points by posting the lowest unemployment rate on the list and with living costs nearly 10% below the national average.
Next, Madison, Wis., came in second with strong marks across all three categories. The metro combines its dense concentration of tech companies and jobs with the second-most-educated population (52.2% hold at least a bachelor’s degree) and the second-lowest unemployment rate (2.3% as of September 2025).
Then, Lincoln, Neb., rounded out the top three by tying for third in unemployment rate (2.7%) while also posting educational attainment of 43.9% and living costs nearly 8% below the national average.
Finally, looking at individual metric leaders alone, Ann Arbor, Mich., posted the highest educational attainment in the region with roughly 60% of residents holding a bachelor’s degree or more. Meanwhile, Springfield, Mo., offered the most affordable living costs at 10.7% below the national average (89.3 on the regional price parity index, where 100 equals the national average). Only Minneapolis and Chicago exceeded 100, meaning just two metros on the list have above-average living costs.
Methodology
Matthew Preston
Content Writer, CRE News & Market Analysis
Matthew has covered commercial real estate for CommercialCafe since 2022. He focuses on the office and industrial sectors, reporting on leasing, development, and investment across national markets and individual submarkets. His work draws on data and original research. He also writes about demographic shifts and urban innovation in U.S. cities. The New York Times, The Real Deal, Bisnow, The Business Journals, and Yahoo Finance have cited his reporting.
