Joint Venture Index of Silicon Valley 2013

The 2013 Silicon Valley Index has arrived and always brings with it some interesting statistics related to our region. Here are a few of my favorite bits from the report:

• Silicon valley is adding jobs faster than it has in more than a decade and in a faster rate than the rest of California and the Nation. In the last year, Silicon Valley has gained 42,360 jobs.
• Regional unemployment is down to 7%, and has also declined across all ethnicity groups.
• In 2011, 64% of Silicon Valley professionals with higher education working in science/engineering fields were born outside the US (the national average is 26%).
• Transit ridership increased by 1.3% in 2012.
• Average housing rents hit a historic high of $1,966.
• Foreclosures declined 41% between the first half of 2011 and the first half of 2012.
• Silicon Valley reached a five-year high of 17 IPOs in 2012, representing 52% of all statewide IPOs and 15% of all national IPOs.
• 48% of all patents in the state and 12.5% of all patents in the country come from Silicon Valley.
• The percentage of kids enrolled in preschool hit 46% in Silicon Valley, compared to 37% in California and 40% for the United States as a whole.
• Since 1998, Silicon Valley's daily per capita waste disposal has fallen by 42% greatly outpacing the nation and state. Per capita energy consumption has also dropped by 2.5%.
• Overall solar installations have increased 14% in 2012 over 2011.
• 82% of all new housing units approved in 2012 were within 1/3 mile of a major transit station.

Click here to read the entire report..