Technology & IT · Miami-Fort Lauderdale, FL
South Florida keeps drawing headquarters moves, but its tech bench is thinner than the U.S. in nine of the eleven IT occupations BLS tracks. Careerscape, a national recruiting agency, has industry-specialist tech recruiters who work remotely and search both the region and other metros for Miami employers.
Arrivals vs bench
The arrivals are real. Palantir said on February 17, 2026 that it had moved its headquarters from Denver to the Miami area, with an office on Biscayne Boulevard in Aventura. Citadel, which announced its headquarters move from Chicago in 2022, is building a 52-story tower on Brickell Bay Drive; work resumed in October 2026 after a September drilling rig collapse. ServiceNow plans 850 jobs in West Palm Beach, with an office at 10 CityPlace expected to open in 2028.
The bench is thinner than those moves suggest. In the BLS May 2025 data, the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metro is below the U.S. share in nine of the eleven tech occupations we track, including software developers, network architects, QA testers and data scientists. Information-sector jobs, which include software publishers, were down 1.9% over the year to 51.0K in August 2026.
In practice, a headquarters move brings senior leaders and some relocating staff, and the teams beneath them are hired in the region or brought in from other metros. Plan engineering searches with both sources in mind.
Pipeline
Metro labor figures from BLS and one announced expansion. Each figure has its source and date.
BLS May 2025
South Florida's LQs sit under 1 almost across the board, meaning fewer of these jobs per worker than the U.S. Pay, by contrast, sits close to the U.S. median for most roles, so the constraint in South Florida is supply more than price.
| Occupation | Jobs in metro | Median pay · vs. U.S. | Concentration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Software Developers | 18,900 | $132,650−2% | 0.62 |
| Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers | 1,960 | $100,050−4% | 0.58 |
| Information Security Analysts | 3,300 | $125,310−3% | 0.95 |
| Network and Computer Systems Administrators | 6,340 | $97,180−2% | 1.11 |
| Computer Systems Analysts | 9,000 | $103,650−2% | 0.96 |
| Data Scientists | 3,040 | $127,450+6% | 0.64 |
| Computer and Information Systems Managers | 9,190 | $169,600−3% | 0.76 |
| Computer User Support Specialists | 13,270 | $60,500−2% | 1.02 |
| Computer Network Architects | 1,940 | $133,650±0% | 0.60 |
| Database Administrators | 860 | $105,590+1% | 0.68 |
| Web Developers | 1,160 | Not published | 0.91 |
QA analysts and testers (LQ 0.58), network architects (0.6), software developers (0.62) and data scientists (0.64) are the thinnest pools. Developers still number 18,900 and earn $132,650, only $3,330 under the U.S. median. Data scientists are scarce and paid above the U.S. at $127,450, a $7,220 premium. The two pools at or above the U.S. share are systems administrators (1.11) and support specialists (1.02). BLS did not publish a Miami median for web developers. Jobs and median annual pay for the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL metro area, all employers, from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey (May 2025). “Vs. U.S.” compares with the national median. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: above 1.0 means the job makes up a bigger share of local employment than it does nationally.
Relocation hires
Many senior tech hires here come from other metros. This is the sequence we follow with Miami-area employers. Not legal or tax advice.
Brickell, Aventura, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach are one BLS metro but very different commutes. Name the office and the in-office days before the search opens.
A Miami offer at the local developer median is close to the U.S. median, but candidates from higher-paying metros compare with what they earn now. Check the software engineer salary guide and expect to negotiate on base and relocation.
Under Florida's CHOICE Act (ss. 542.41-542.45), employees earning more than twice the annual mean wage of the relevant Florida county can be bound by noncompetes or garden-leave agreements of up to four years each. A candidate leaving a South Florida firm may be covered, so ask before you schedule final interviews.
Florida's constitution bars a state tax on the income of natural persons except within narrow limits (Article VII, Section 5). That often matters to engineers coming from New York or California; let their own adviser confirm what it means for them.
While the senior hire relocates, contract or contract-to-hire engineers can start the work. For the most senior roles, Careerscape runs executive search.
Before you post
Practical points from the data and Florida law above.
Miami's data scientist median is $127,450, above the national figure, and the pool is thin. See the data scientist salary guide before you set the band.
With network architects at an LQ of 0.6 and QA testers at 0.58, local candidates are few. Decide early on remote work or relocation support, and compare pay with the network engineer salary guide.
Systems administrators and support specialists are the two roles at or above the U.S. share here, so these searches can usually stay local. Pay sits near the U.S. median for both.
The Florida Digital Bill of Rights applies to controllers with more than $1 billion in global revenue that also meet one of three tests: half their revenue from online ads, a voice-assistant service, or an app store with 250,000 apps. Most Miami employers fall outside it, so scope privacy engineering roles on your actual obligations.
Florida International University's College of Engineering and Computing and Miami Dade College's cybersecurity programs are both worth a campus pipeline for junior roles.
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FAQ
It is harder than the headlines suggest. BLS counts 18,900 software developer jobs in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metro, but the location quotient is 0.62, well under the U.S. share. The May 2025 median, $132,650, is close to the U.S. figure. Expect many senior searches to include candidates from other metros who would relocate.
Yes. Broward and Palm Beach counties are part of the same BLS metro as Miami-Dade, and we recruit across all three. Careerscape has no South Florida office: our technology recruiters work remotely, search locally and nationally, and send you a pre-screened shortlist in the Employer Portal.
For higher earners, yes. Florida's CHOICE Act lets employers bind employees who earn more than twice the annual mean wage of the relevant county with noncompetes of up to four years, or garden-leave agreements requiring up to four years' notice. Ask candidates early whether they have signed one, and get legal advice on the terms. This is not legal advice.
More than the national median. Data scientists in the metro earned $127,450 in May 2025, $7,220 above the U.S. median of $120,230. There are 3,040 of these jobs and the location quotient is 0.64, so the pool is small. Senior machine learning roles at finance and AI employers often price above this all-industry figure.
Probably not, unless you are very large. Under s. 501.702, a controller must have more than $1 billion in global gross revenue and either earn half its revenue from online advertising, run a smart speaker or voice assistant service, or operate an app store offering at least 250,000 apps. Affiliates controlled by such a company can also be covered. Not legal advice.
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