90% of U.S. growth in high-tech jobs between 2005-2017 occurred in 5 metro areas, according to a recently released report from the Brookings Institution.
Boston, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle and San Diego saw the largest growth.
While the bottom 90% (343 metro areas) lost one-third of "innovation-sector" jobs.
In this "winner-take-most" scenario, Brookings says the concentration of tech jobs in "superstar" metro areas leads to spiraling home prices, traffic gridlock and a clustering of college-educated workers in these cities.
Brookings calls this an underdevelopment “trap,” where many people have no access to opportunities associated with tech-driven innovation.
The institution recommends the creation of new regional “growth centers” to combat an “unbalanced economic geography.”