The Silicon Valley Index is a set of indicators measuring the strength of Silicon Valley's economy and the health of the broader community. The index report covers many aspects of Silicon Valley life. You can read about employment, transportation, venture capital activity, the arts and many other topics.
But my favorite part covers Silicon Valley diversity. A few interesting data points include:
- 48% of SV residents speak a language other than English at home. This is 2.5x the U.S. average. Asian and Pacific island languages are spoken in 43% of the non-English speaking homes, followed by Spanish (38%).
- Foreign net migration is a key driver of SV population growth. In 2009, foreign net migration was +14,000 while domestic migration was negative at -3000.
- 60% of SV's science and engineering workforce was born outside of the U.S. This is roughly 3x the national average. 28% were born in India, 13% in China and 10% in Vietnam.
- 40% of SV residents are White non-Hispanic. 29% are Asian and 25% are Hispanic.
Multiculturalism defines Silicon Valley, and is a key reason it is a global economic force.
Very interesting statistics there, especially regarding other language spoken in the home. One would have expected it to have a bias toward Spanish. But it is interesting that in the area of technology it is Indian and Chinese.
This reflects well global trends, which show the Asian population becoming more and more technically advanced than their neighbors.
Posted by: budgetingandforecastingsoftware | April 25, 2010 at 03:41 AM
It is probably both because of the initial diversity of the Bay Area as well as the draw that the tech companies have internationally. Interesting statistics.
Posted by: Robert Rogers, Esq. | April 15, 2010 at 02:59 PM
of course it does. thats what makes technology so great and not so great. If you have a one sides culture on your start up staff, you are going to all have the same outlook on things. If its diversified, you get different angles, approaches, ideas, etc
great post
-Bella
Posted by: Electronic Cigarette | April 13, 2010 at 02:29 PM