Washington Overtakes California as AI Talent Hub, New Data Shows

Washington attracts AI talent more than Silicon Valley or New York, according to a September 2026 tech employment report. As the World Economic Forum estimates a net gain of 78 million jobs from AI technologies by 2030, a new study released by software talent marketplace Lemon.io maps the US states where AI talent is already concentrating.

• Washington is becoming the main hub for AI specialists, with a quarter of employees in the state already using AI in their jobs.

• The state offering the best salary in the AI field is New York, and local specialists earn $200K annually.

• California has the most opportunities for those who want to work in AI, with 515 positions currently open.

To identify the regions where AI talent is the most concentrated, the study compared all 50 states by 7 key workforce factors. AI and tech employment, including the ratio of the field to the overall workforce in 2025 and 2026, reflected the state of the industry and its growth, while median salaries showed how competitive the income is. The report also considered the share of workers using AI in 2026 and current AI openings (as of August 2026) to indicate how embedded AI already is in the state’s workforce.

Here are the states that are the most successful in attracting AI talent:

State	Number of Employed Population	Share of Workers Using AI	AI & Data Center Jobs per 100K Employed, 2025	AI Employment per 100K Employed Workers, 2026	Median AI/Tech Annual Salary	Current AI Job Openings in the U.S. (August 2026)
Washington	3.64M	25.4%	649.21	1,686	$185.5K	479
California	18.1M	22.4%	449.60	1,200	$190K	515
Massachusetts	3.71M	22.6%	272.29	1,187	$172K	374
New York	9.99M	15.7%	278.69	981	$200K	421
Colorado	2.97M	24.1%	447.35	923	$155K	241
Maryland	2.8M	22.1%	195.83	841	$167K	342
Virginia	4.24M	23.1%	481.51	824	$150K	458
Texas	14.4M	21.9%	331.93	809	$135K	459
Illinois	6.16M	21.7%	269.69	770	$143K	345
Georgia	4.98M	21.3%	483.81	765	$142K	299

You can access the full report findings and full US ranking by following this link.

1. Washington

• Share of workers using AI: 25.4%

• AI and data center jobs: 649 per 100K employed

• Median AI/Tech salary: $185.5K annually

• Current AI job openings: 479 in August 2026

Washington is currently the biggest hub for AI specialists, with one in four workers in the state already applying AI to their work tasks. At the same time, in just a year, the share of AI workers increased by 1K, going from 649 per 100K employed to 1,686 per 100K. One of the reasons why so many AI specialists are coming to Washington is the competitive salary of $185.5K annually.

2. California

California follows closely in 2nd place, and AI employment here jumped from roughly 1 in 200 workers to 1 in 85. The state also has the most vacancies open currently, with 515 positions. Salaries in Silicon Valley and the region are high too, with the median sitting at $190K. In other fields, AI is widespread, too, as 22.4% of all workers report incorporating artificial intelligence in their tasks.

3. Massachusetts

Massachusetts lands in third place, with similar AI usage rates as California, at 22.6%. AI employment grew in Massachusetts to almost the same numbers as in Silicon Valley, but the increase in jobs is much sharper. The state recorded 272 out of every 100K jobs as related to AI or data centers, and now these figures are almost at 1,200.

4. New York

New York also made the list of the states attracting the most AI talent, with the highest salaries in the country. Median annual income for tech and AI specialists here reaches $200K, and over 420 of these positions are currently open. The local artificial intelligence workforce already amounts to almost 1 in 100 employees, but just 15.7% of all residents are trying out AI tools.

5. Colorado

In fifth place is Colorado, where 24.1% of employees are offloading some of their tasks to AI tools. When it comes to the AI field, the state offers 241 open positions right now (as of August 2026), and its employment already amounts to 923 specialists per 100K workers.

A senior talent sourcer from Lemon.io commented on the findings:

“Washington in the lead is no surprise for those familiar with the local field: almost a quarter of its 625 tech companies were founded (fully or partially) by Microsoft alumni. And Amazon and the University of Washington are the close seconds in this pipeline. Silicon Valley built its compounding founder network over the years, and Washington already put decades of infrastructure and tech funding to do the same. Now, with the AI industry, we’re seeing the results.”