Delaware ranks as one of the top states for tech businesses, high-speed internet

Delaware is one of the most lucrative states for tech companies and employees, according to two new studies.

The First State came in seventh in the U.S. for best state to start a tech business. And Delaware − home to 66% of Fortune 500 companies − invests the third most amount of money into venture capital, according to the studies conducted by software company Zibtek.

Massachusetts and California finished first and second, and Delaware was the only state in the Philadelphia metro to finish in the top 10. Maryland finished fifth in the nation with the highest percentage of people with tech-related degrees and the fastest internet speed in the country.

Delaware succeeds in venture capital investment and fast internet speeds, finishing third in the country in both. The study said there is a “strong pool of social and engineering workers.”

Delaware ranks so high because of the strong talent pool and proximity to Philadelphia and other major markets in the Northeastern U.S., said Joshua Berkow, director of operations at the Tech Council of Delaware. Delaware’s size and connectivity is also an advantage to the state’s tech industry, Berkow said.

“From that perspective, I think proximity to other regions, as much as Delaware is trying to carve out its own identity, place for tech, and I think we’re making strides against that, we can’t undersell the geographic positioning of the region either,” Berkow said.

The strong talent pool contributes to tech workers in Delaware making the ninth-highest salaries in the country. These high salaries have a lot to do with the presence of financial tech jobs. Technical.ly, a news service covering technology, reported there are over 3,800 tech firms in the state as of 2023 and over 21,000 jobs at these firms in total.

There is a diverse mix of employers for tech employees in the First State and plenty of opportunity.

JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America are some of the largest employers in the state’s tech industry, Berkow said. The State of Delaware employs the largest number of tech workers, and the University of Delaware, DuPont and healthcare companies also employ a large tech workforce.

The study also said Delaware had the third-fastest internet speeds in the country, which helped the tech industry grow. Berkow said internet connectivity creates more opportunity to hire from around the state.

“I think it means you can start a business from anywhere,” Berkow said, adding that fast internet speed opens up more opportunities for remote workers.