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November 8 is National STEM Day, a time to celebrate education and work conducted in the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. STEM occupations include a wide array of technical careers, such as chemists, computer programmers, aerospace engineers, and mathematicians.
Metropolitan areas with the highest concentration of STEM occupations, May 2020
Metropolitan area
Location quotient
Annual mean wage for STEM occupations
Total STEM employment
California-Lexington Park, MD
3.9
$107,410
11,760
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
3.3
147,290
245,090
Boulder, CO
2.7
107,140
33,360
Huntsville, AL
2.6
102,620
40,880
Bloomington, IL
2.4
104,160
13,450
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA
2.1
123,370
270,340
Durham-Chapel Hill, NC
2.0
102,350
42,450
Columbus, IN
1.9
87,930
6,020
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
1.9
116,250
381,800
San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA
1.9
131,900
294,230
Note: The location quotient is the ratio of the area concentration of occupational employment to the national average concentration. A location quotient greater than one indicates the occupation has a higher share of employment than average, and a location quotient less than one indicates the occupation is less prevalent in the area than average. STEM occupations include science, technology, engineering, and mathematics related occupations.
In May 2020, California-Lexington Park, Maryland, was the metropolitan area with the highest share of STEM employment, with STEM occupations making up 26.0 percent of total jobs in the metropolitan area, a concentration nearly four times the national average.
The San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California, metropolitan area in Silicon Valley was next, with STEM occupations constituting 22.2 percent of all jobs, a little over 3.3 times the national average.
Boulder, Colorado; Huntsville, Alabama; and Bloomington, Illinois, were also among the areas with the highest concentrations of STEM employment, each with over 16.0 percent of total employment in STEM occupations.
In addition to having one of the highest STEM concentrations, San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California, was the highest paying area for STEM occupations, with an annual mean wage of $147,290. The highest paying metropolitan areas for STEM occupations also included San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, California ($131,900), and Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Washington ($123,370).
STEM occupations had employment of 9.3 million in the United States in May 2020, representing 6.7 percent of total U.S. employment. Software developers and software quality assurance analysts and testers, computer user support specialists, and computer systems analysts had the most employment among STEM occupations, accounting for 29.0 percent of total STEM employment.
STEM occupations had an annual mean wage of $98,340, well above the U.S. average of $56,310 for all occupations. Computer and information systems managers, architectural and engineering managers, natural sciences managers, and petroleum engineers, each with mean annual wages over $154,000, were the highest paying STEM occupations.
United States Department of Labor
