Nashville and Orlando draw younger workers as tech hubs spread
JLL says lower costs, growing job bases and corporate moves are helping midsize cities compete with older tech centers.
By Maya Lindqvist · Senior Technology Correspondent
3 min read
Nashville and Orlando are drawing younger workers and corporate investment as high costs push talent beyond San Francisco and other established tech centers, according to JLL. The shift matters for companies deciding where to hire, lease offices and build new hubs.
JLL, the commercial real estate and investment management firm, calls cities such as Nashville and Orlando “welcomer” markets: places with substantial corporate job opportunities and lower costs than the largest U.S. metros. In an April report, JLL said these cities are becoming stronger players in the innovation economy as talent movement, office demand and corporate investment spread across more markets.
Travis McCready, JLL’s head of industries for leasing advisory, told Fortune that Nashville’s cultural pull and Orlando’s tax advantages are helping attract workers. He said welcomer cities posted a 5.2% net migration rate over the past three years, compared with 0.6% for “anchor” markets such as New York and the Bay Area.
San Francisco dominated the young tech-worker pipeline from the mid-2000s through the late 2010s, powered by Web 2.0 companies and the mobile technology boom. That pattern weakened during the pandemic, when workers left for family, lower costs or different lifestyles, and later shifted toward Texas and Florida as job growth and rent levels made those states more attractive.
A Gensler City Pulse survey cited by Axios found that nearly half of young, childless adults in San Francisco were considering moving. JLL’s report suggests the next phase of that movement is reaching cities that combine affordability with expanding office and corporate footprints.
Lower costs remain a major draw
Housing and living expenses remain central to the shift. Apartments.com estimates that San Francisco’s cost of living is 80.6% higher than Orlando’s and that its housing costs are 226.2% higher. Compared with Nashville, San Francisco is 66.3% more expensive overall, with housing costs nearly 150% higher, according to the same comparison.
ConsumerAffairs, using U.S. Census Bureau and Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council data, found in 2025 that seven of the 10 most accessible metro areas for young homebuyers were in the Midwest. The analysis also found that California dominated the least affordable metros for Gen Z buyers.
McCready told Fortune that the forces drawing people to lower-cost, lifestyle-focused cities are likely to persist because movers have bought homes and built lives in those markets.
Corporate moves add momentum
Companies are also adding weight to the trend. Oracle announced in 2024 that it planned to establish what it called its world headquarters in Nashville, with $1.2 billion in capital investment over 10 years and a plan to add 8,500 jobs. Tennessee officials offered a $65 million economic grant tied to the project, though Fortune reported in January that Oracle had faced recruiting challenges for the Nashville office.
Starbucks said this spring that it would open a corporate hub in Nashville. CoStar reported the company was looking at about 250,000 square feet, enough room for as many as 2,000 workers. Starbucks Chief Operating Officer Mike Grams said in a statement that Nashville was a strong fit for a larger presence in the Southeast.
In Orlando, Travel + Leisure moved its global headquarters downtown, while Boston cybersecurity firm SimSpace relocated its headquarters to the city this year, according to JLL. Temenos, AMD and Charles Schwab have also announced Orlando expansions in recent years.
JLL said the office market supports the case for those cities. Nashville ranked among the top five U.S. markets in 2025 for absorption-to-delivery ratios, with 35% of new supply absorbed last year. Orlando’s 15.3% vacancy rate was below the 22.4% national average, while JLL said premium rents in welcomer cities averaged roughly half the Bay Area’s prime-rent level.
McCready said New York and the Bay Area are recovering selectively, with demand centered on accessible, amenity-rich buildings. JLL said only about 9% of office inventory in the Bay Area and major anchor cities was built after 2020, leaving companies with fewer choices than in emerging hubs.
This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.