Rails City of the Week: Austin

Photo by Sultry.

With SXSW wrapping up a couple weeks back, we figured now would be a good time to feature Austin as our Rails City of the Week.

Austin, Texas, capital of the Lone Star State isn’t exactly the capital of the Ruby on Rails world, but it’s certainly got some features worth checking out.  To kick things off, here are a few general notes about the Austin Ruby on Rails job market:

  • Austin features a preponderance of niche-focused Rails shops in established industries. Unlike the Bay Area, Austin Rails shops are more often businesses in niche industries providing more established products and services.  Not too many Austin Rails shops are trying to invent their own industry, but rather are working within an industry with a more traditional business model.
  • Austin Rails opportunities are fewer, but growing.  Compared to San Francisco, New York, and even Boston, Austin is certainly behind in terms of the sheer number of Rails opportunities available at any given moment.  However, Austin’s RoR opportunity growth rate in the last two years has been unparalleled by any other city.
  • Austin Rails shops have low attrition rates.  Austin Rails opportunities are growing in number and there are certainly some good ones to be found.  However, because Austin isn’t chalk full of RoR gigs like some other cities, Ruby developers tend to stay put more often once they find a gig they like.

That’s the skinny on the Austin Rails market from what we’ve seen over the last few years.  Outside of the Rails world, Austin’s got a lot to offer, too.

It makes sense that we’ve seen growing Rails opportunities in Austin because it’s the third fastest growing city in the country.  Austin has also grown into its reputation as a major high tech hub, given its nickname, “the Silicon Hills.”  Multiple Fortune 500 companies such as Dell and Whole Foods are headquartered in Austin.  Similar to Boston, Austin’s businesses (particularly in the tech sphere) are supported by the constant inflow of students and recent graduates from The University of Texas at Austin.

Culturally, Austin has plenty going on.  It likes to call itself the “Live Music Capital of the World,” which makes sense given that Austin hosts SXSW and has more music venues per capita than any other city in the country including Nashville, New York, and Las Vegas.  Similar in spirit to San Francisco, the Austin population is a diverse bunch, many of whom are drawn to Austin by the more casual, but active lifestyle provided by a mild climate (though hot and humid in the summer) and beautiful scenery.

Overall, Austin is ranked high on lists such as The Best Big Cities (#3), America’s Favorite Cities Based on People (#1) and America’s Safest Cities (#5 for cities > 500,000 people).  But it did come in dead last on one list: America’s Most Stressful Cities (#40 out of 40 metropolitan areas examined) — and that’s a good thing!

Writing this post has made me start to wonder why I don’t live in Austin?!  Well, if you do already or are thinking about making a move, Austin is a great place to be in general, and one of the up and coming Rails cities with a vibrant Rails community.

Check out some of our Austin Rails openings or give us a shout to get the latest scoop!