Best Portland Coding Bootcamps

While Portland, Oregon may not be the first place you think of when you consider big tech hubs, the city has had a booming tech ecosystem for a number of years. Portland is one of the most cultured cities in the world, offering something for everyone.

Portland’s reputation for being a friendly town and a place with excellent scenery is not all the city has to offer aspiring tech workers. While the city is already home to a number of great technology companies, it is expected that the technology ecosystem in the city will continue to grow. So, if you’re interested in pursuing a career in technology, you should consider setting up shop in Portland.

Technology in Portland

Portland is home to a number of top coding bootcamps, including local, regional, and national bootcamps. National coding bootcamps such as The Tech Academy, Epicodus, and online bootcamps such as Lambda School serve students in the city.

If you’d prefer to learn in a local bootcamp, schools like Alchemy Code Lab and PDX Code Guild serve aspiring tech workers in the city. The University of Oregon also offers bootcamps in subjects such as cybersecurity and data analytics, which is perfect for someone who would prefer to learn in a university coding bootcamp.

Whatever your needs, you’ll be able to find a top coding bootcamp for any field or career trajectory in technology in Portland, ranging from data science to user interface design.

Portland Technology Job Market

Like many other tech hubs, Portland, OR has its own Silicon Valley-style city name: the Silicon Forest. You can expect to hear locals throw this term around a lot in conversation. The city has certainly earned the “tech” name, as Portland is home to a number of big technology companies. For example, Google, Oracle, Mozilla, eBay, Airbnb, and Salesforce all have offices in the city.

But it’s not just big tech companies which are actively hiring skilled tech workers in the city — startups need qualified tech talent just as much. For example, startups such as Vacasa, Airship, Cloudability, and Puppet are all hiring in the city. According to Glassdoor, there are over 1,700 job openings for software engineers in Portland; there are over 900 job openings for web developers as well.

So, if you have the right skills and experience, you’ll have no trouble finding a great tech company that needs your expertise in Portland, OR.

Tech Salaries in Portland

Just as the number of open tech job positions in Portland have been on the rise, so have salaries for tech workers in the city. While the average living expenses in the city are higher than the national average, the salaries offered to tech workers make up for it. And while Oregon’s income tax rates is one of the highest in the country, there is no sales tax, so your money will go further in the state.

The exact salary you can expect to work as a tech workers in Portland, Oregon will depend on your experience level and position. However, even if you’re just getting started in your career, you’ll still be able to command an impressive salary if you work in Portland. Here are a few examples of salaries in Portland to give you a better idea of what you can expect to earn as a tech worker in the city:

-Portland Data Scientist Salary: $128,100

-Portland Web Developer Salary: $79,200

-Portland UX Designer Salary: $85,000

-Portland Software Engineer Salary: $100,400

Life in Portland

If you’ve decided that Portland could be the city where you start your career in tech, you should know there’s more to the city than just the attractive salaries and strong job prospects. Indeed, Silicon Forest is a well-rounded city with something to offer for everyone.

Portland is well known for being a friendly town where people are nice to everyone — you’ll see people smile and chat with strangers more in Portland than in other cities. The city also has a culture of being bold, which is why you’ll see many local residents set aside dress norms and wear whatever they like. Aside from the clothes and friendliness, the city also has a strong respect for the environment. Recycling is the norm in the city, plastic bags are illegal, and not caring for the environment is frowned upon in the city.

Silicon Forest is also renowned for the food scene. There’s only one word to summarize the state of food in the city: quality. People in Portland care about making use of locally-grown, artisanal, and organic foods and ingredients in their food. Living in Portland will give you access to excellent food experiences which you could not have anywhere else. There’s also a wide variety of food available in the city, so you should be able to find great food no matter what your tastes are. And to accompany the food scene, the city is also known as one of the top brewing cities in the country. It’s no surprise considering there are over 100 breweries in the city.

We could talk more about the weather in Portland, or the thousands of acres of high quality parks, or Willamette River, but there’s too much to write in one article. You’ll simply have to visit the city yourself to make a decision about whether it is right for you. If you’re an aspiring tech worker, Portland, Oregon is a great place to consider launching your new career in tech.