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Blockchain skills are in high demand.
In fact, there is so much demand for blockchain jobs that Anthony “Pomp” Pompliano of Morgan Creek Digital recently launched a new blockchain-specific jobs board, in partnership with Coinbase, Gemini, and more.
As of this writing, there are more than 300 jobs on the site. Pompliano says he hopes to have 10,000 listed by the end of 2021. At the moment, though, the site is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to blockchain jobs in the U.S.
To learn more about the blockchain job market, we analyzed job postings on Indeed.com, one of the largest general jobs sites in the US. We found more than 3,000 open job postings that include the term “blockchain.” Some of them are technical roles developing blockchain applications, and some are non-technical roles like marketing and HR positions at blockchain companies.
So where are these blockchain jobs? When you look at the postings by state, there are few surprises. California and New York are clearly the blockchain capitals on the East and West coasts, and Texas and Illinois offer blockchain opportunities in the southwest and midwest, respectively.
Digging deeper into the data reveals some more surprising trends.
But before we get to them, a few notes about the data. Indeed handles job searches by geographical proximity, so—for example—a job search for blockchain jobs in New York City would also include some results in nearby New Jersey. Our analysis looked at the total jobs listed for each location, so some jobs are counted more than once. Indeed also included, as of 1/25/2021, a single remote job that is counted for every state (which is why no states on the map have zero jobs listed).
Anyway, looking at the data in more detail gets interesting. For example, although the raw jobs numbers are unsurprising, counting a state’s blockchain jobs per capita based on estimated 2020 populations reveals some interesting hotspots:
Utah and Massachusetts, for example, have a comparatively high amount of blockchain jobs per capita.
Even more of an outlier, though is Washington, DC. Although it’s too small to be pictured on the map, DC, has ten times as many blockchain jobs per capita as the next closest state. That’s partially thanks to regulatory, legal, and lobbyist roles that are located there to provide quick access to government figures and regulatory organizations. For example, COINBASE is currently hiring for an Associate General Counsel in DC to lobby the Department of Treasury and the Department of Justice.
Breaking the map down to cities instead of states also highlights some growth areas. (Note: for this map, we included only cities with at least eight open blockchain job listings).
Note, for example, that while the Bay Area is clearly California’s blockchain capital, there’s a sizable blockchain job market growing in southern California, too. Texas jobs are mostly centered around Houston, but Austin has dozens of blockchain jobs to offer, too.
And while New York is clearly the center of the East Coast blockchain universe, there are hotbeds in North Carolina and Georgia, too.
This data is limited to open jobs that were posted on Indeed. Since many companies list their jobs on other platforms, the true number of blockchain-related jobs in these places is likely much higher. And of course, there are also many remote jobs available in blockchain (and many location-specific jobs are currently remote due to the pandemic).
Long-story short, although the pandemic has been terrible for employment in the US, there are still many blockchain jobs available, and not just in the places you might expect.
