Hello all,
We are a family for 4, with two young kids, from Columbus OH and are planning to move to Jax this Summer. I am in technology and would like to know about Tech presence in Jax in comparison to Tampa. Any insights will be really helpful, like what are some big tech employers. We have picked St.John’s county to move into to for their schools. Thanks so much!!

St. Johns and Clay County both have some really amazing schools. There are some high scoring schools in Duval County, but you do have to do some research to find the.

Jacksonville is a major center for technology and innovation. The city is home to a number of Fortune 500 companies, as well as a growing number of startups and small businesses. Some of the top tech companies in Jacksonville include:

FIS
iVenture Solutions
NorthgateArinso, Inc.
Availity
Modis
AutoQuotes, Inc.
Centah Inc.
Macquarie Group
ServiceNow
Duos Technologies

These companies offer a wide range of tech-related jobs, from software development to data science to cybersecurity. The city has a strong economy, a growing tech sector, and a talented workforce. Jacksonville has so much to offer, and continues to grow and is becoming a major hub for technology.

As far as my experience, this is a big tech area. We have two Navy bases here that hire civilians. We have a massive medical community (including Mayo Clinic, University of Florida, etc) and they employee massive amounts of IT and IS personnel. Jacksonville is a big logistics town with a major port, large shipping companies, trucking companies, millions of square feet of warehouses, etc. We have at least two Amazon terminals. Plus there are hundreds and hundreds of smaller companies here as well, startups, established businesses, etc., that all rely on tech personnel.

I recommend looking at Nassau County over St. Johns County. Excellent schools, better cost 9f living less congestion, a more small-town lifestyle with the beach on one side of the county and beautiful forested areas on the other side. If I had to pick either one, I'd definitely choose Nassau County. St Johns County has gotten too big too fast and is, in my opinion, overrated. Schools are overcrowded.

You got some good responses for sure but i would agree Tampa likely has more jobs just from what I've read online but disagree with Orlando. If you go to the surrounding cities around it there are some companies with big offices there but in actual Orlando there is not as much. FIS as mentioned above is a big Fintech company and there are lot of banks/finance jobs, there's also lots of transportation and logistics as mentioned (Landstar, CSX, and Crowley which i didn't see called out specifically but i believe 2 of them are F500), there are also companies that maybe don't have their HQ here but have a presence such as J&J. There is actually a list of companies on Wikipedia with major presence in Jax I'll link here. I actually moved here from Orlando for the finance and accounting variety, though now with WFH it's less pressing I guess.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_companies_based_in_the_Jacksonville_area

Family wise i don't have one so not sure. Have heard lots of great things about St John's schools obviously but I have also met friends who went to Duval county public schools and then did undergrad at Berkeley and law school at Columbia so I think parental involvement and dedication is probably the bigger factor. We have an extensive parks system so while FL hikes don't include elevation if you want to walk in the woods or pine scrub or mangroves or along a beach we've got you covered. Jacksonville puts effort into putting on family friendly events imo from chalk art festival to jazz festival to Jax River Jams to the beach blues fest there are always free activities going on.

I would argue Tampa has a much better tech presence as they have some big companies there. Lots of startups to big banks like JPM and Citi. Tampa/Orlando also have a younger demographic I would say.

Isn’t salesforce fully remote? You could technically move anywhere then unless you’re trying to make a switch

St Johns has a reputation for schools but that’s historically based on it being a small mecca for white upper middle class+ and “avoids” the lower socio economic levels of duval. It has now been overpopulated with people escaping duval and moving from the northeast and southeast states. the infrastructure is not caught up and building continues at rapid speed. I would guess long term st johns schools will not maintain their edge and will face the same difficulties neighboring counties have once the population evens out. Its also probably nearly an hour to/from downtown in rush hour

Best advice I can give those wanting to move to Florida: check out what all the other transplants are doing....then do the opposite lol! The areas where the majority of folks are moving into are so overcrowded and congested and demand in those areas, of course, has driven up the prices on everything. I'm a Jacksonville native, but I have lived other places, so I think I can look at my city objectively. I like it here. It has all the big city conveniences but with a better cost of living, friendlier people, and more of a southern hospitality feel. Whatever you decide, though, I wish you and your family all the best! It's always difficult making a major move. Drop us a line here at some point and let us know where you landed and how it's going!