Number of high-tech Jobs: 65,749

High-tech payroll: $5.7 billion

Average wage: $86,683

Area employers: Intel, Oregon Health & Science University

In a hopeful sign for the area, chipmaker Intel (INTC) recently said it will build a new plant in Portand, Ore. The semiconductor manufacturing industry by far outstrips any other in Portland, which lost 4,100 high tech jobs from 2007 through 2009. Last year the area's average high-tech worker earned 96 percent more than its average private sector employee.