While venture capital returns follow a power law, tech acquisitions, while concentrated, are a bit more scattered geographically. According to CB Insights data, San Francisco has accounted for 9% of all US private company tech acquisitions since 2012, while the top 20 cities account for a 41% share. Note: This is all private tech company exits irrespective of prior financing. This is not VC-backed exit only although they are a subset of the total.
When looking at larger metropolitan areas, Silicon Valley as a whole has accounted for nearly 23% of all US tech acquisitions since 2012, over twice the share as the second largest geographic region, SoCal, which saw a 9% US tech acquisition share since 2012. Overall, the US’ four biggest VC markets, Silicon Valley, New York, Boston, and SoCal, have accounted for nearly 46% of all US tech acquisitions in the time period.
Not surprisingly San Francisco and New York topped the list for most acquisitions, and were followed by somewhat less-hyped cities like Seattle, Austin, and Chicago rounded out the top 5 and beat out Boston and Los Angeles. See below for the complete ranking of cities by number of acquisitions.
| Rank | City | State | # of Acquisitions | 
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Francisco | CA | 335 | 
| 2 | New York | NY | 282 | 
| 3 | Seattle | WA | 76 | 
| 3 | Austin | TX | 76 | 
| 5 | Chicago | IL | 65 | 
| 6 | Palo Alto | CA | 59 | 
| 7 | Boston | MA | 57 | 
| 8 | Los Angeles | CA | 56 | 
| 9 | Mountain View | CA | 55 | 
| 10 | Santa Clara | CA | 49 | 
| 10 | Atlanta | GA | 49 | 
| 12 | San Jose | CA | 46 | 
| 13 | San Diego | CA | 45 | 
| 14 | Portland | OR | 40 | 
| 15 | San Mateo | CA | 38 | 
| 15 | Houston | TX | 38 | 
| 17 | Cambridge | MA | 34 | 
| 18 | Irvine | CA | 33 | 
| 18 | Dallas | TX | 33 | 
| 20 | Sunnyvale | CA | 32 | 
| 20 | Boulder | CO | 32 | 
| 22 | Redwood City | CA | 24 | 
| 22 | Minneapolis | MN | 24 | 
| 22 | Denver | CO | 24 | 
| 25 | Las Vegas | NV | 23 | 
| 26 | Pittsburgh | PA | 20 | 
| 27 | Santa Monica | CA | 19 | 
| 27 | Miami | FL | 19 | 
| 29 | Menlo Park | CA | 18 | 
| 29 | Bellevue | WA | 18 | 
| 31 | Emeryville | CA | 17 | 
| 31 | Columbus | OH | 17 | 
| 33 | Scottsdale | AZ | 16 | 
| 33 | Washington | DC | 16 | 
| 33 | Philadelphia | PA | 16 | 
| 33 | Orlando | FL | 16 | 
| 33 | Charlotte | NC | 16 | 
| 33 | Burlington | MA | 16 | 
| 33 | Carlsbad | CA | 16 | 
| 40 | Salt Lake City | UT | 15 | 
| 40 | Columbia | MD | 15 | 
| 42 | Alpharetta | GA | 14 | 
| 43 | Sacramento | CA | 13 | 
| 43 | Reston | VA | 13 | 
| 43 | Irving | TX | 13 | 
| 46 | Waltham | MA | 12 | 
| 46 | Stamford | CT | 12 | 
| 46 | Phoenix | AZ | 12 | 
| 46 | Herndon | VA | 12 | 
| 46 | Arlington | VA | 12 | 
| 51 | Raleigh | NC | 11 | 
| 51 | Fort Lauderdale | FL | 11 | 
| 51 | Baltimore | MD | 11 | 
| 51 | Birmingham | AL | 11 | 
| 55 | Tampa | FL | 10 | 
| 55 | Rochester | NY | 10 | 
| 55 | Plano | TX | 10 | 
| 55 | Milwaukee | WI | 10 | 
| 55 | Berkeley | CA | 10 | 
| 55 | Costa Mesa | CA | 10 | 
| 61 | Norcross | GA | 9 | 
| 61 | Kansas City | MO | 9 | 
| 61 | Hollywood | CA | 9 | 
| 61 | Manchester | NH | 9 | 
| 61 | Bedford | NH | 9 | 
| 61 | Campbell | CA | 9 | 
| 67 | Jersey City | NJ | 8 | 
| 67 | Indianapolis | IN | 8 | 
| 67 | Louisville | KY | 8 | 
| 67 | Burlingame | CA | 8 | 
| 67 | Englewood | CO | 8 | 
| 67 | Fremont | CA | 8 | 
| 73 | Rockville | MD | 7 | 
| 73 | Redmond | WA | 7 | 
| 73 | Wilmington | NC | 7 | 
| 73 | Saint Paul | MN | 7 | 
| 73 | Venice | CA | 7 | 
| 73 | Richardson | TX | 7 | 
| 73 | Spring | TX | 7 | 
| 73 | Omaha | NE | 7 | 
| 73 | Littleton | CO | 7 | 
| 73 | Milpitas | CA | 7 | 
| 73 | Pasadena | CA | 7 | 
| 73 | Oakland | CA | 7 | 
| 73 | Lexington | MA | 7 | 
| 73 | Los Altos | CA | 7 | 
| 73 | Marlborough | MA | 7 | 
| 73 | Hudson | NH | 7 | 
| 73 | Newport Beach | CA | 7 | 
| 73 | Madison | WI | 7 | 
| 73 | Fairfax | VA | 7 | 
| 73 | Alexandria | VA | 7 | 
| 73 | Cleveland | OH | 7 | 
| 73 | Colorado Springs | CO | 7 | 
| 73 | Concord | MA | 7 | 
| 96 | Sterling | VA | 6 | 
| 96 | Tempe | AZ | 6 | 
| 96 | Saint Louis | MO | 6 | 
| 96 | Shawnee Mission | KS | 6 | 
| 96 | Woburn | MA | 6 | 
| 96 | Pleasanton | CA | 6 | 
| 96 | Nashville | TN | 6 | 
| 96 | Morrisville | NC | 6 | 
| 96 | Overland Park | KS | 6 | 
| 96 | McLean | VA | 6 | 
| 96 | Evanston | IL | 6 | 
| 96 | Bloomington | IN | 6 | 
| 96 | Durham | NC | 6 | 
| 96 | Aliso Viejo | CA | 6 | 
| 96 | Bethesda | MD | 6 | 
| 96 | Dayton | OH | 6 | 
| 96 | Buffalo | NY | 6 | 
| 96 | Duluth | GA | 6 | 
| 96 | Beaverton | OR | 6 | 
| 96 | Cupertino | CA | 6 | 
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