WalletHub, a personal finance website, just came out with rankings for the best job markets for STEM professionals. And three metro areas in Massachusetts made the cut.
The Boston-Cambridge-Newton area ranked #4 overall for the best job markets for STEM professionals. Here's a breakdown of how our metro area fared in specific aspects of the study:
- #5 for Percent of Workforce in STEM
- #1 for Math Performance
- #24 for Quality of Engineering Universities
- #49 for Annual Median Wage Growth for STEM Workers
- #10 for Job Openings for STEM Graduates per Capita
- #54 for Unemployment Rate for Holders of Bachelor’s Degrees or Higher
- #2 for Projected Demand for STEM Jobs by 2020
Boston-Cambridge-Newton wasn't the only metro area in Mass. to land on WalletHub's list of STEM-friendly markets. The Greater Springfield area came in right behind them as #5 in the rankings, while Worcester took the #55 spot.
For Springfield, a sample of its scores included:
- #72 for Percent of Workforce in STEM
- #1 for Math Performance
- #11 for Quality of Engineering Universities
- #67 for Annual Median Wage Growth for STEM Workers
- #72 for Job Openings for STEM Graduates per Capita
- #36 for Unemployment Rate for Holders of Bachelor's Degrees or Higher
- #2 for Projected Demand for STEM Jobs by 2020
WalletHub's method was as follows: It compiled a list of the 100 most populated metro areas in the country. WalletHub's analysts then compared these areas based on 17 metrics that pointed to the "Professional Opportunities” and “STEM-Friendly Environment” the cities offer.
Data sources for each metric varied. For instance, WalletHub looked at standardized math test scores of fourth and eighth graders to evaluate Math Performance in a specific area, while they looked at U.S. News & World Report's Best Engineering Schools ranking to determine Quality of Engineering Universities. Other sources included data from the "U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Center on Education and the Workforce, National Center for Education Statistics, National Science Foundation, United States Patent and Trademark Office, Center for Neighborhood Technology, Council for Community and Economic Research, Indeed, U.S. News & World Report and WalletHub research."
Metro areas received a grade on a 100-point scale, with 100 representing the most favorable conditions for STEM professionals, for each of these metrics. WalletHub then calculated the overall score for each city, based on the weighted average across all 17 metrics. Those final scores were used to rank the metro areas.
For a comprehensive look at the best job markets for STEM professionals, check out the interactive map below provided by WalletHub.
Source: WalletHub
