IDAHO FALLS - With a burgeoning focus on technology and online security, the city of Idaho Falls has caught the attention of cybersecurity experts from around the nation as one of the top places in the country for cybersecurity and information security professionals.
National business information resource firm AdvisorSmith, which has been featured on Fox Business, Yahoo Finance and the Wall Street Journal, has released a “deep dive” into the best cities in America for information security professionals. In that analysis, Idaho Falls came out at the top in the best cities by size as well as the overall best cities category.
The study indicated that Idaho Falls has “over three times more jobs for IT security analysts than the average U.S. city and a cost of living that is 7% lower than the national average.” It also recognized employers like Idaho National Laboratory (INL), which is managed by Battelle Energy Alliance for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy, and Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center (EIRMC) as major contributors to the area’s IT-centric job industry.
“Protecting the nation’s digital infrastructure is one of Idaho National Laboratory’s most important missions,” Laboratory Director John Wagner said. “Living in a vibrant and supportive city like Idaho Falls is a key factor when we’re recruiting talent from around the world.”
Idaho Falls Mayor Rebecca Casper echoed the study’s findings about the importance of employers like INL and EIRMC to the region’s tech growth.
“Many people are unaware that one of essential missions of INL is cybersecurity and using technology to protect the nation’s critical infrastructure like utilities, oil and gas refineries, water treatment plants and other facilities,” Casper said. “INL is an amazing asset to our nation. It is a major force in helping attract top talent from around the world to the tech-rich environment that exists here.”
She added that other large employers, like EIRMC, also play a huge role in the creation of cybersecurity and IT sector jobs. That sentiment was echoed by EIRMC’s director of technology, Mandi Beard.
“Technology has become so integrated into today’s health care experience,” Beard said. “Roles ranging from infrastructure operations to information security to customer support enable EIRMC to provide quality, innovative patient care. Idaho Falls has provided an educated, experienced IT workforce to meet our needs.”
The study discovered that while many of the best cities for information security analysts were large cities with technology heavy economies, many other factors weighed heavily on the rankings including cost of living and lifestyle. And with the large focus in the industry on remote working arrangements and quality of life, Idaho Falls landed squarely in the top spots in the analysis.
You can see the report and read the full list of highlighted cities here.