STEM: Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos Ranked 6th In Country For Wages
Note: Link to the upcoming SM STEM Fair.
In today’s economy, knowledge in the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) has become incredibly lucrative. According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the annual mean wage for a STEM job is $79,395 — nearly 71% higher than the national annual average wage across all occupations and industries. Over the past couple of decades, some cities in the U.S. have become more attractive to STEM graduates for a variety of reasons.
NerdWallet crunched the numbers to find the best places for STEM graduates by analyzing the following factors in the 75 largest U.S. metropolitan areas:
1. Income levels for STEM jobs: We looked at the annual mean wage for STEM occupations in each metro area. We also factored in median gross rent as a cost of living metric to see how far the average income goes in each place.
2. Size of STEM industries: We included STEM occupations as a percentage of all jobs in a city to measure the robustness of the STEM industries and gauge availability of STEM jobs.
For more information on affordability in each of these places, check out NerdWallet’s cost of living calculator. For similar studies and more, visit NerdWallet Cities.
1. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California
The San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro area is the heart of California’s Silicon Valley, the home of thousands of technology companies. Although the cost of living is high, the region’s annual average STEM wage of $111,746 is also the highest on our list. As well, the valley has the highest percentage of STEM occupations in the country. Computer networking giant Cisco Systems is the largest employer in the area, and other companies, such as Intel and Adobe Systems, also employ a large number of STEM graduates. Santa Clara University’s Center for Science, Technology and Societyaims to help social entrepreneurs by connecting them with technology mentors.
2. Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Washington
The Greater Seattle area is a hub for the aerospace, information technology, clean tech and life sciences industries, so it isn’t a surprise to see a high average wage for STEM jobs and also a significant percentage of those occupations in the local economy. Top employers in the region include Boeing, Microsoft and Amazon. Washington STEM is an organization that strives to drive growth in STEM education statewide.
3. Washington, D.C., Arlington-Alexandria, Virginia-Maryland-West Virginia
In addition to the plethora of political and government employment opportunities in the nation’s capital, the region is also home to many jobs in technology and scientific research. Each spring, Washington, D.C., hosts the USA Science & Engineering Festival, an educational event that seeks to stimulate interest in the STEM fields. The DC STEM Alliance, another group that serves a similar purpose, provides resources to support STEM education in local schools.
4. Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas
People working in STEM occupations in the Greater Houston region enjoy a high average income of $94,766, and a relatively low cost of living to boot. Major industries in Houston include advanced manufacturing and technology, aerospace, biotechnology and life sciences and energy. The University of Houston STEM Center helps attract and retain students in STEM careers, both locally and nationally.
5. San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, California
As the home to major companies such as Google, Facebook, Twitter and Oracle, and a countless number of technology startups, the San Francisco Bay Area is major hub for STEM jobs. The region offers the second-highest average annual wage for STEM occupations behind the nearby San Jose metro area. UC Berkeley’s Center for STEM Innovation, Leadership and Diversity is an incubator for college students in these burgeoning fields, while the California STEM Learning Network is a statewide organization that seeks to increase STEM knowledge and skills for younger students.
6. Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, Texas
Austin has seen significant growth over the past decade, especially as a technology center. The region is home to the headquarters of Dell, and also regional offices of Google, IBM, Intel, Texas Instruments and other major companies. The University of Texas at Austin contributes significantly to the area’s STEM workforce and its Center for STEM Education supports education and research.
Methodology
The overall score for each metro was calculated from the following measures:
- Annual mean wage for STEM jobs from the Bureau of Labor Statistics May 2013 Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates (25% of overall score)
- Median gross rent from the 2012 U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (25% of overall score)
- STEM jobs as percentage of all occupations from the Bureau of Labor Statistics May 2013 Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates (50% of overall score)
The annual mean wage for STEM jobs and median gross rent were each half-weighted. The study analyzed the 75 largest metropolitan areas in the country.
Sreekar Jasthi is a contributor to NerdWallet where this article originally published. It is reprinted here through a partnership between NerdWallet and Corridor News
