With almost 300,000 employees, the DC area surpasses Silicon Valley in number of high-tech jobs, according to a report released by the American Electronics Association.  Adding over 6,000 jobs in 2006, the DC area also had the second-largest growth in the US after The Big Apple.  Other leading metro areas by high-tech employment were the New York City region (#1), Boston (#4) and Dallas-Fort Worth (#5).   
 
The study’s definition of “high tech jobs” encompassed a variety of fields.  While New York City’s is a hub of internet services, Silicon Valley remains the national leader in semiconductor manufacturing.  Washington DC’s tech cluster is based around computer system design.        
 
The first city-level report created since the burst of the dot com bubble, the study also warned that stringent visa requirements barring skilled foreigners to work in the United States and lack of qualified American graduates would hinder high-tech competitiveness in the long-term. 
 
Further Reading
American Electronics Report releases Cybercities 2008 
Cybercities 2008 on the Business Innovation Technology Society blog