Saturday Stats: San Jose rents are stabilizing

This will be good news for a lot of folks. San Jose is one of the largest cities where rent growth has slowed down. The rate of increase has only been 0.6% in the last year (Sep 2015 - Sep 2016). Given that we have some of the highest rents in the US, hitting the brakes may not be a bad thing. The major downside is that this will likely delay some major development projects in San Jose.

Source: RENTCafe Blog

San Jose Metro led the nation in economic growth for 2015!

Out of the 382 metros tracked by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, only 292 saw their economies grow in 2015. Of the 20 largest metros, guess which had the most growth.

The San Jose Metro grew its economy by an incredible 8.9% last year. This is miles away from the next city which is Houston at 4.6%. For all the buzz San Francisco got, they grew their economy by 4.1% last year, less than half of San Jose and putting them fifth on the list. New York barely made a dent at 1.7%.

What is even more impressive is that if you look at ALL 382 metros, including the smaller ones where it is easier to have big economic swings, San Jose still had the 2nd fastest growing economy in the US. Only Midland, TX with a population of 140k had a faster rate of growth.

The bubble chart below the grid shows economic performance versus the size of the metro (larger bubble = more population). San Jose is still performing like a fast-growing startup (hot small city) despite the fact the metro has 2 million people.

To paraphrase a Twain quote: the reports of Silicon Valley's death are greatly exaggerated. Every economy in the US would love to be where San Jose is today.

Source: CNBC, Hillrise from the San Jose Development Forum

Saturday Stats: San Jose has the highest density of computer and math-related jobs

The fact that San Jose is #1 in this stat should not surprise anyone. However, the gap between San Jose and any other city in the US when it comes to computer and math occupations is quite amazing. For every 1,000 jobs in San Jose, 124.9 of them are related to computers or math. This compares to just 78.9 in San Francisco, 76.6 in Seattle, 32.8 in New York, and 64.5 in Austin.

The chart below compares each city to the national average. A rating of 4.3 means San Jose has 4.3 times the national average of computer and math jobs. For stats on other types of jobs, hit the source link below.

Source: Abodo, Hillrise from the San Jose Development Forum

Saturday Stats: Median size of San Jose homes increased 51% over the last 100 years

San Jose home prices have become some of the highest in the world so you would think that the median size of homes would shrink to balance things out. However, this is not the case at all. Over the last 100 years, the median SQFT for a new home in San Jose has gone from 1,232 SQFT to 1,862 SQFT. To see how this compares with other cities, check out the source line below.

Source: PropertyShark

Saturday Stats: San Jose is the first metro in the country to break the million dollar mark for single-family homes

Ouch, the San Jose metro is officially the first metro in the United States where the average cost of a detached home is seven figures. The average cost of a come in our area (which includes all of Santa Clara County) is $1,085,000. This compares to $885,600 in the San Francisco Metro, $742,200 in Anaheim, and $742,000 in Honolulu.

The average cost of housing in the San Jose metro rose a whopping 10.7% last year. The San Francisco metro rose by 9.5%. Despite signs the housing market and economy are slowing down, home values are continuing to go up.

Hopefully we learned our lessen in 2008 and this won't get too out of hand. For those that don't understand what happened eight years ago, I highly recommend watching The Big Short (now on Netflix). Spoiler alert: one of the first people to identify the corruption and scandals happening in the mortgage market is from San Jose.

Source: SocketSite

Saturday Stats: San Jose is the 3rd most educated city in the US

Given that the tech industry is fueled by some of the brightest minds in the world, it should come as no surprise that San Jose ranks as one of the best educated cities in the country. WalletHub looked at the 150 largest metros in the US and compared nine key metrics such as percentage of adults with bachelor's degrees, public school rankings, University rankings, racial gaps in educational attainment, and gender gaps in educational attainment.

After all the numbers were crunched the San Jose metro came in 3rd on the list, only bested by Ann Arbor and Washington DC. Boston came in 6th followed by the San Francisco metro at #7. The same study ranked San Jose as #7 in 2014, so there is a positive trend in our area. To see the full list as well as more stats check out the source link below.

Source: WalletHub, thanks to Barclay Livker for sending this in!

Saturday Stats: San Jose is the 2nd healthiest region in the US

Great news, we just ranked as the second most "healthy" metro in the country. The study looked at two dozen measures of health factors and health outcomes (such as average lifespan).

San Jose has a very low premature death rate at 0.2%, an adult obesity rate of only 19.6%, and only 7.1% adults do not have health insurance. Only 9.1% of San Joseans smoke, the fourth smallest share of any US city. The best part is we ranked highest on the metric that is most important, life expectancy. Our average lifespan is comes in at an impressive 82.7 years.

Source: 24/7 Wall St., Thanks to Barclay Livker for sending this in!

Saturday Stats: the San Jose Metro is worth $419 billion

Thanks to soaring property values and new flagship office developments, the value of all real estate in Santa Clara County has hit $419 billion. That is $30.9 billion more than 2015 (7.9% increase). The biggest increases in assessed property value came from Mountain View, Santa Clara, and Cupertino (due to Apple Campus II). San Jose proper appreciated at a respectable 7% which unincorporated parts of the county saw the least appreciation at 0.89%.

Source: SVBJ

Saturday Stats: San Jose has the 4th highest percentage of upper class residents in the US

The Pew Research center conducted a study to see how income classes have changed over time in 229 US metros. Part of the study was highlighting the 10 metros with the largest percentage of upper-income populations. "Upper income" was defined by being more than double the US median household income relative to the national average cost of living. That means that very expensive areas are adjusted downward. Despite this, the San Jose metro can in 4th on the list, with 31% of the population considered upper class and a median household income of $187,390. San Francisco was 9th on the list with 28% of residents considered upper class and a median income of $185,290.

However, I would argue that if you have a household income of $187,390 in Silicon Valley, you are not wealthy and most likely in the upper middle-class bracket based on purchasing power. Likely you are not living in an extravagant house or enjoying a lavish lifestyle. If you have kids and a mortgage, you might barely be getting by. Check out the source link below for the top 10 list and more details.

Source: Business Insider, hat tip to Barclay Livker for sending this in!

Saturday Stats: San Jose is the "weirdest" place in America

Weird can mean a lot of things, but in this case it is a good thing. An economist recently did a study based on 20 different variables to see which metro areas had the most deviations from being "normal." The metrics included the proportion of the population that is foreign born, married, working, in the military, that own a car, etc.

The San Jose metro came in as the most "weird" city in the US whereas Oklahoma was the most normal. San Jose ranked so highly due to our large percentage of immigrants, workers with high education, and high salaries. New York came in second on the "weirdness" list.

Source: Washington Post, hat tip to Fuss Lopez for sending this in!

Saturday Stats: San Jose is the #3 best metro for entrepreneurship growth

In the latest annual Kauffman study for startup funding growth, San Jose rose from fifth to third place on the list behind Washington D.C. and Austin. Note that this ranking is for growth and not total funding. In terms of total funding, the Bay Area nabbed $34 billion in investment during 2015, which is 27% of all the money invested in startups for the entire world. San Francisco dropped rank in the study from sixth place to eighth place.

The report also ranked the San Jose metro as being #1 for "emerging growth IPO density," whatever that means. San Francisco clocked in at #2 for that list.

Source: SVBJ

Saturday Stats: San Jose is the top place to start a business in America

San Jose has returned to the top spot as the best city in the country to start a business according to an annual ranking by Biz2Credit. Shockingly, we came in at 18th place last year due to high costs of doing business. However, this year the other criteria were more than able to make up for those costs. The study looked at the health of small businesses in each metro, the entrepreneurial ecosystem, taxes, and the local talent pool.

New York City took the second highest spot on the list followed by San Francisco in third. For more details, read the full article over here.

Source: CNBC

Saturday Stats: Silicon Valley unemployment drops even further

Despite signs that the economy might be slowing down, unemployment somehow is continuing to drop. The San Jose metro has reached a ridiculously low 3.7% unemployment rate this April. This is down from 3.9% in the previous month and 4.1% a year ago. It's starting to feel a lot like 1999.

Statewide, 1,800 IT jobs were lost in April. In the San Jose metro, 400 were added in April. Clearly we're still doing something right. Hopefully we can maintain these stats for a while longer.

Source: SVBJ

Saturday Status - San Jose is the #1 city for jobs

San Jose nailed the top spot on yet another study seeking the best cities for jobs. Glassdoor calculated a an overall job score by looking at hiring opportunities, cost of living, work-life balance, and job satisfaction (all equally weighted). San Jose was the clear winner and had the highest median base salary of any metro in the United States ($112,000/year). San Francisco came in second place.

Source: Glassdoor

Saturday Stats: best places for STEM grads 2016

There is no place in the US that will reward STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) degrees more than the San Jose area when it comes to salary. However, after you factor in the astronomical cost of living here are we still #1?  A recent NerdWallet study looked at the 330 largest metro areas and analyzed salaries, concentration of STEM jobs, unemployment, and average rent.

The study ranked the San Jose area as #2 on the list. Who was #1? Huntsville, Alabama (what???). I don't think I would agree with how the attributes were ranked. I think few people would argue against Silicon Valley being the #1 place for tech jobs despite the high cost of living. San Jose has more STEM employees per 1,000 jobs than any other metro. It has the highest income for tech employees, $122,398 versus a $84,222 average for the study (and $107,722 for San Francisco). It also has far and away the best ecosystem for tech. If you have a STEM degree here, you're likely multiple calls and LinkedIn invites from recruiters each month. For more details and the full list, hit the source link below.

Source: NerdWallet

Saturday Stats: San Jose is the top place for minority-owned businesses in the US

We all know San Jose is one of the most diverse cities on the planet and also one of the best cities for business. So it should not come as a big surprise that San Jose is the best place for minority-owned businesses.

At $83,406/year, San Jose had the highest minority median income in the US. The average revenue per minority-owned business in our area comes in at $317,979 and there are 45.74 minority-owned businesses per 1,000 residents. 6th on the list was San Francisco and New York was all the way down at #51.

Source: Nerdwallet, SJ Economy News

Saturday Stats: San Jose is the second best city for young professionals

Forbes has completed their annual study on the best cities for young professionals, and we fared quite well. Criteria for the study included the quality of jobs for graduates, salaries, job growth, unemployment rates, and cost of living in the 100 largest metro areas. The San Jose Metro came in second on their list despite the astronomical cost of living. When it came to salaries, we were #1 with a median salary of $78,400 for workers with five years of experience or less. You can check out the full list over here.

In related news, the SJSV Chamber is hosting a special event specifically for young professionals in Silicon Valley. This is part of their "SV Next" initiative and you can learn more about that below.

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San Jose, Calif— The San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce is proud to see San Jose included in yet another prominent national list, this time in Forbes’ 20 Best Cities for Young Professionals.

“San Jose and the Silicon Valley continue to be the place for educated young professionals to not only start their career but to also take it to the next level,” said Matt Mahood, San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce President & CEO. “That is why the SJSV Chamber is relaunching our young professionals program, SV Next, to assist in helping them network, develop professionally and give back to their communities.”

SV Next is comprised of young professionals from Silicon Valley companies—including NowCFO, SAP, and Ameriprise Financial—between the ages of 21 and 39. It officially relaunches with a networking mixer on April 20, at Scott’s Seafood and offers young professionals a chance to meet, mingle, network and connect as well as meet established professionals who can become their mentors.

“SV Next strives to be the one-stop-shop for young professionals in Silicon Valley,” said Chloe Verrey, SV Next Chair. “Our programming addresses the needs of mid-career individuals, those entering the workforce and transplants to Silicon Valley. Establishing meaningful connections and providing professional development experiences for our members within the context of our Valley will enable them to advance their careers.”

Young professionals have always been one of the Valley's greatest assets. Just last year, San Jose's own institution of higher learning—San Jose State University—cemented its value to Silicon Valley employers when Jobvite named it one of the top workforce provider to some of the Valley's heavyweights, including Apple, Cisco and Hewlett Packard. San Jose also holds a greater share of total STEM graduates [29%], compared to the national average of 15%, and higher even than the average held by STEM global leader Finland [22%]—a crucial key for young professionals looking to attain high-paying jobs within the advanced industry sectors.

"There are many opportunities for young professionals in this Valley," Verrey said. “With the diversity of companies and people in San Jose, it's no surprise that we made this list.”

SV Next is looking to engage young professionals in unique networking and professional development opportunities. In 2016, the group aims at working with partners focused on leadership training, professional advancement and community service. For additional information or to join, email here.

Saturday Stats: our traffic still sucks

Shocker, our traffic is still terrible. At least we are slightly better off than four US cities: Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, and Seattle. So while you are crawling at 1mph on 101 during peak rush hour, just keep telling yourself it could be worse.

Below is a list of the 20 US cities with the worst traffic in 2015. To see the global list, hit the source link at the bottom.

1. Los Angeles, 41%
2. San Francisco, 36%
3. New York, 33%
4. Seattle, Wash., 31%
5. San Jose, 30%
6. Honolulu, Hawaii, 29%
7. Miami, Fla., 28%
8. (tie) Washington, D.C.; Portland, Ore.; and Chicago, Ill., 26%
11. (tie) Houston, Texas and Boston, Mass., 25%
13. (tie) Atlanta, Ga.; San Diego; and Tampa, Fla., 24%
16. (tie) Orlando, Fla.; Philadelphia, Pa.; and Baton Rouge, La., 23%
19. (tie) Nashville, Tenn.; New Orleans, La.; Austin, Texas; and Las Vegas, Nev., 22%

Source: SVBJ

The 9 largest rental developments completed last year in San Jose

San Jose's development efforts are focused more on jobs than housing these days, but lets not forget how much housing is still built in San Jose each year. In 2015, the 9 largest rental projects in our city added 2,317 new apartments to San Jose. To see which projects made the list and take a peek inside each of these developments, head to this blog post.

Source: RENTCafe

Saturday Stats: San Jose metro has the best job growth in 2015

Private sector jobs in the San Jose area grew by a staggering 4.8% last year. That is enough to beat out every other metro in the United States by a significant margin. Texas usually dominates these rankings, but Austin came in second with 4.4% growth in 2015. San Francisco and New York did not make the top 10. The only other California metro on the list is Riverside at #7.

Average private sector job growth for the nation is 2.3%, meaning San Jose grew its job market at more than double the national rate. I hope the growth can continue for a at least another year or two. The tech market is beginning to cool a bit, but there is still huge potential for job growth in the area.

Source: SVBJ, Headlight Data