Quantifying the US Developer Drought for Mendix World 2.0

To drive awareness and registrations for Mendix World 2.0, the largest low-code virtual event of the year, Mendix engaged Reputation Leaders to find out where in the U.S. was the most significant gap between supply and demand for software developers.
An image titled “Mendix World 2.0: The Developer Drought” The text overlay on the image discusses a shortage of software developers, also known as a “developer drought”

Our analysis of over 3 million data points yielded an answer:

Silicon Valley is out, and the Midwest is in, at least when it comes to supply/demand shortage in hiring U.S. software developers.

Despite COVID-19, states in the U.S. heartland are actively hiring developers. Meanwhile, with remote working becoming a norm, professionals on the coasts are reassessing work-life opportunities and exploring start-up opportunities outside Silicon Valley

Eight out of 10 U.S. counties with the highest “Developer Demand” shortage are in states in the middle of America, such as South Dakota, Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, Utah, and Mississippi

92% of job ads on three leading sites for software developers in July/August were for specific locations, showing employers are slow to embrace remote working opportunities

Here are the top areas for developer jobs based on supply and demand.

An image titled "Mendix 2020 Software Developer Drought Index by County". It is a map showing the software developer drought index in the United States by county. The drought index is a measure of the supply and demand for software developers in a particular location. A high drought index indicates a high demand for software developers and a low supply, while a low drought index indicates a low demand for software developers and a high supply. The map uses a color coding system to show the drought index by county. The colors range from green (low drought) to red (high drought). You can find a legend in the top right corner of the map that explains what each color means. The map also includes a table that shows the top 10 counties with the highest drought index ratio. The table also shows the average salary for full-time workers in those counties. Here are some of the key findings from the map: The drought is most severe in the middle of the United States, with many counties in South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas having a high drought index. The drought is less severe in the coastal areas of the United States, with some counties even having a low drought index. The average salary for software developers is higher in counties with a high drought index. This suggests that there is more competition for software developers in these counties, which is driving up wages. The report that this image came from was produced by Mendix, a company that provides low-code development platforms. Low-code development platforms allow businesses to develop software applications without having to write a lot of code. This can help businesses to address the shortage of software developers. Here are some additional things to keep in mind about the image: The data in the image is from 2020. It is possible that the drought index has changed since then. The image only shows the situation in the United States. The global software developer market is complex and there may be different trends in other countries.

There’s a drought of software developers in middle America, giving I.T. pros new opportunities beyond Silicon Valley, according to the Mendix Software Developer Drought Index compiled by Reputation Leaders and released August 27, 2020.

Reputation Leaders looked at over 2000 jobs posted during July/August on Glassdoor, Indeed, and Monster, three of the top I.T. hiring sites to measure demand. To measure I.T. talent supply, Reputation Leaders analyzed more than three million U.S. households from the 2018 American Community Survey to determine the number of I.T. professionals in a particular county. Combined with a detailed geo-analysis of job ads for U.S. software developers, we were able to map in detail where the highest demand and lowest supply is for software developers across the U.S.

The gap is most significant in middle America, with a few exceptions.

The index also found that 92% of job listings still list a specific location in the job description despite the recent move toward remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The areas with the highest demand for developers and the lowest supply are:

  1. Cumberland County, NJ
  2. Minnehaha County, SD
  3. Pontotoc County, MS
  4. Ouachita County, AK
  5. Rock Island County, IL
  6. Iroquois County, IL
  7. Ector County, TX
  8. Morgan County, UT
  9. Roanoke County, VA

10.Stearns County, MN

Click here to view a fly-over map of the top 10 developer drought areas.

The study also looked at commute times and average rents in the counties with the most talent shortages. The average monthly rent among the top 10 counties was $707, compared to $1,001 for the U.S. overall. Commute time was 22 minutes compared to 28 minutes for the U.S. overall.

At the state level, the states with the most significant gap between supply and demand for software developers are:

  1. South Dakota
  2. Utah
  3. Nebraska
  4. Rhode Island
  5. Alabama
  6. Maryland
  7. Virginia
  8. Illinois
  9. Wisconsin
  10. Vermont

Key Takeaways

The tech-based industry managers and workforce, no longer confined to Silicon Valley or other traditional tech hubs, are now beginning to be untethered from any specific geography. The Developer Demand Index pinpoints leading opportunities for companies to leverage remote teams, cloud technology, and low-code software as a new powerhouse strategy for collaborative innovation.

For more information on how to develop thought leadership, please contact info@reputationleaders.ltd