2. Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Tech Employment Growth, 2015-2016: 21.3 percent

Change in Momentum, 2013-2016: 23.4 percent

Fort Lauderdale saw a 37 percent increase in tech jobs from 2011 to 2016 with an average jump in pay of 15.3 percent (average annual salary: $79,484, slightly higher than its neighbor to the south, Miami). That towered over the average pay jump for non-tech jobs, which was 6 percent.

Gail Blount, a technology marketing consultant who lives in the area, said the state is looking to attract new technology firms to Florida, as well as helping the companies that are already there grow. Two examples she cited: ProcessMAP, a web-based software and service provider in nearby Sunrise, and a little further west from Fort Lauderdale, Ultimate Software, which specializes in human resources software and hired more than 1,000 employees in the past year.