Lucrative STEM jobs show up in places like Albuquerque, study shows

The best metro market for lucrative STEM jobs is Seattle, followed in order by Boston, Atlanta, Austin and Minneapolis, according to a rating of 20 key metrics by WalletHub, a personal finance website.

The worst metro area of 100 cities ranked for science, technology, engineering and math professionals is Jackson, Mississippi.

In terms of most STEM job openings per-capita, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, came out on top. San Jose boasts the highest average monthly earnings for new workers in STEM at $12,684, nearly three times higher than in Little Rock, Arkansas, at $4,349.

San Jose also has the highest share of all types of workers in STEM occupations at 21%, about 14 times higher than in McAllen, Texas, with the lowest of 100 metros at 1.50%

WalletHub also looked at media annual wages for STEM workers adjusted for the cost of living.  Albuquerque, New Mexico came out on top at $99,400, which is 2.3 times higher than Honolulu—the lowest at $42,367.  Surprisingly, the San Francisco metro finished 99th on the same measure because of the high cost of living with a median annual wage of $60,671.

WalletHub also noted that STEM careers offer high salaries with far few threats of unemployment. During the pandemic, STEM jobs have been more resilient against job losses. The median annual STEM wage is $86,980 compared to just $38,160 for all non-STEM occupations.

“STEM workers are in fierce demand, and not just in the global epicenter of high tech known as Silicon Valley,” WalletHub financial writer Adam McCann said.

The study looked the 100 most populated metropolitan statistical areas across three areas: professional opportunities, STEM-friendliness and quality of life. Each area counted for a third of the total of 100 possible total points, with an examination of 20 relevant metrics.

Under the heading of professional opportunities, the study looked at the number and share of STEM job openings as well as wages and wage growth from 2017 to 2019.  Under the category of STEM-friendliness, WalletHub looked at factors such as the number of top engineering schools in the area and the level of spending on R&D as well as the number on invention patents.  Quality of life looked at housing affordability, recreation friendliness, family friendliness and singles friendliness. 

Across all measures, Seattle attained a top score of 71.28, and ranked first in professional opportunities, seventh in STEM-friendliness and 21st in quality of life.Boston finished second with a total score of 67.55, ranking first on STEM-friendliness with a large collection of major universities, but just 70th in quality of life. 

San Francisco ranked ninth overall with a 62.05 total score, and a rank of third in professional opportunities but a rank of 75th for quality of life. Nearby San Jose ranked 24th overall, ahead of San Diego, ranked 26th.

Albuquerque ranked 44th overall with a total score of 49.61, and 40th in professional opportunities but 66th in STEM-friendliness.  As the top metro in annual median wages for STEM workers, it was followed in order by Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, Florida, Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, Texas, Dayton-Kettering, Ohio and Richmond, Virginia.

WalletHub tracked the highest STEM employment growth to Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida. The highest quality of engineering universities were in the San Francisco area.  The highest housing affordability rating went to Dayton-Kettering, Ohio, while the lowest housing affordability went to Honolulu.

The study also includes comments from experts on how to increase interest in STEM jobs and ways to improve STEM education.  David Moss, a professor in curriculum and instruction at University of Connecticut, said the way that cities can be more appealing to STEM graduates and tech companies is by studying the “hip” urban areas as a model. “Work flexibility and affordable living combined are key,” he added.

Christopher Emdin, an associate professor of science education at Columbia University, explained why the majority of STEM grads don’t ultimately work in a STEM occupation. “There is a notion that STEM jos are readily available and/or accessible,” he said. “This is not actually the case. Many of these jobs require long internships, knowing someone in the company or organization or a very particular STEM skill set that is not easily generalizable. However, STEM skills are easily applicable across fields. There is thoughtfulness, creativity, innovative spirt and technical ability necessary to graduate with a STEM degree.”

The full report is online.  

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