Economy

For Most Cities, the Tech Boom Is a Bust

Contrary to technology’s image as an equalizer, digital service jobs in United States have clustered and concentrated in a select few metros.
An employee demonstrates the Groove, "a wearable glove device that enhances the dancer's expression," at the Trade Show at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Music Film Interactive Festival 2017 in Austin, Texas, U.S., March 12, 2017. Brian Snyder/Reuters

This post is part of a CityLab series on power—the political kind, the stuff inside batteries and gas tanks, and the transformative might of mass movements.

From the “world is flat” to the “rise of the rest,” we consistently hear the meme that technology is the great leveler and that new players across the country and world are gaining steam in high-tech industries.