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Like several other former manufacturing powerhouses, Rochester, New York is well on its way to becoming a thriving high-tech hub. Unlike other cities, however, it has a number of unique factors working in its favor. MIT economics professor Jon Gruber ranked Rochester as the No. 1 city with the potential to be a national economic driver. With 19 colleges and universities in the region to fuel a highly skilled workforce, it’s no wonder that tech firms of all sizes and stripes are scaling up and relocating within city limits.
Standing out among a large pool of qualified and eager applicants is difficult. If you’re looking to hone your skills or forge a new career path entirely, area bootcamps can be a great option. These programs prepare participants for specific career tracks, ranging from front or back-end developer to data analyst, to cybersecurity professional. In addition to a mastery of job critical skills, you can walk away from many bootcamps with resume and interview prep and networking experience; essentially everything you need to land your dream role. Check out some of the most promising professional opportunities that could await you as a job seeker in Rochester!
The job market in Rochester is hot, especially for bootcamp graduates, thanks to the explosive growth of several key sectors. Not one, but two American titans were founded in the city: Kodak and Xerox. Although Kodak has pivoted from camera manufacturing to a broader portfolio of hardware and software in the commercial printing and medical industries, both companies maintain a heavy presence in Rochester to this day. Roles are currently available at both, including exciting opportunities like business operations analyst and software quality technician.
What truly sets Rochester apart is the proliferation of innovative small businesses. Ninety-seven percent of the region’s workforce now work at smaller companies with fewer than 100 employees, with key sectors in advanced manufacturing, energy innovation and software and IT. In addition, more than 150 optics, photonics and imaging firms call the city home. This is excellent for job-seekers interested in engineering or business operations and they can keep an eye on opportunities at industry-leading companies like L3Harris, Corning and JML Optical.
As you can imagine, within a city with so many small businesses, Rochester has a thriving startup ecosystem. A number of incubators, some through the prestigious Rochester Institute of Technology, are offered to budding entrepreneurs, as well as accelerator programs and VC support. You’ll find a number of organizations working on technology solutions of the future like cloud management provider CloudCheckr or telemedicine firm EZacccessMD, to name just a few.
As Rochester’s national cachet grows, so too do the cultural and quality of life amenities within the city. Housing costs have also remained relatively stable over the past several years. We’ve compiled salary information from Indeed.com for some of the top tech roles in the area. Keep in mind that this is only a small sample of the opportunities in Rochester. Applicants can expect salaries in the mid-to-high five figures for in-demand roles, higher than average for the workforce in the city.
| Career Field | Average Salary |
|---|---|
| Software Designer | $87,086 |
| Data Analyst | $63,128 |
| Java Progammer | $89,396 |
| Back-end Developer | $88,651 |
| Full Stack Developer | $92,780 |
| Software Engineer | $77,581 |
| IT Security Specialist | $97,558 |
| Software Developer | $77,581 |
Take a moment to browse our Rochester-based bootcamps. Remember that many programs can be taken partially or fully online, so consider your personal career goals and schedule when considering classes!
