Innovation Hubs vs Legacy Heartland

Silicon Valley runs Next.js. Main Street runs WordPress. The framework divide mirrors the economic divide.

United States Canada

Key data points

WordPress market share (US)

Highest absolute count of WordPress sites globally. SMB and media sectors most dependent.

~45%

Modern framework adoption (tech sector)

SF, NYC, Seattle, Austin — Next.js, React, Astro dominant in venture-backed companies.

65-75%

Federal IT legacy spending

Over 80% of US federal IT budget maintaining legacy systems, not building new ones.

$100B+ annually

Developer salary gap

WordPress developer avg vs React/Next.js developer avg. The talent market has priced the future.

$95K vs $140K

Canadian gov digital modernization

But execution constrained by legacy procurement and COBOL dependency in federal systems.

$2.5B committed

Analysis

Legacy Profile

Split market: tech companies and startups on modern stacks, SMB/media/government on WordPress and legacy CMS. The gap is widening as modern framework talent concentrates in tech hubs while WordPress talent supply shrinks nationally.

Modernization Velocity

High in private sector tech, slow in government and SMB. Federal modernization mandates exist but execution lags. Canada's digital government initiatives more progressive but constrained by legacy integration.

Key insight

North America has both the most legacy infrastructure (by volume) and the most modern infrastructure (by innovation). The divide is sectoral, not geographic — your framework choice correlates with your industry more than your location.

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