Real estate advisory firm RCLCO Real Estate Consulting has announced the results of its 2022 STEM Job Growth Index (STEMdex), which projects which metropolitan areas will have the strongest outlook for growth in STEM jobs.
Published annually since 2016, with the support of light industrial and office investment management firm CapRidge Partners, the STEMdex tracks and projects STEM job growth trends across the country by analyzing the economies of the largest metropolitan areas to understand which regions are attracting the jobs and employees of the future. Read the full report online.
The analysis focuses on metrics in four major areas RCLCO finds to be paramount to the growth of STEM jobs: STEM Trends/Economic Factors, Workforce Quality, Quality of Life/Health, and Business Climate. In total, RCLCO identified and weighted 23 different indicators they believe best characterize the four major categories and can quantify their impact on the STEM job market.
Some of the highlights of this year’s list include:
- Austin, Texas, returns to the top-ranked spot after placing 2nd and 3rd in the last two annual publications of the STEMdex.
- Philadelphia was the only new entrant to the Top 20 of the STEMdex this year.
- Of the largest 50 MSA’s, San Jose, Calif., has the highest concentration of STEM jobs today.
- The top five most heavily concentrated STEM markets—San Jose; Washington, D.C.; San Francisco; Austin; and Boston all rank within the top 10 for projected future job growth.
“Now in its sixth year of publication, RCLCO’s STEMdex exists as a means to highlight the key metropolitan areas that represent current strongholds of STEM employment, as well as those that are likely to see strong growth moving forward. Because nearly 70 percent of US GDP is influenced either directly or indirectly by STEM employment, understanding where these jobs exist today and where they may concentrate tomorrow is essential to decision makers and real estate investors alike,” says Gregg Logan, managing director of RCLCO.
The top 20 cities include: