Economic Modeling Specialists, Inc. reports in States with Largest Presence of STEM-Related Jobs: ”California, on the other hand, still has more than 13% of the nation’s overall STEM-related workforce (just over 1 million estimated jobs). But it shed 19,000 STEM jobs in the last decade (a 1.75% decline) and saw its above-average concentration slightly decline.”
See the report for chart on payrate by state: “STEM-related occupations pay on average between $8 to $18 per hour more than all other jobs looking the nation.”
Many areas with heavy STEM concentration have high levels of government jobs such as national laboratories. For California, the report mentioned: “Los Angeles County has the largest number of STEM jobs in the U.S. (more than 235,000). But when it comes to job concentration, Santa Clara County overwhelms LA County, largely because of the influence of Silicon Valley. Beyond pockets in California and Washington, however, most of the top counties have some kind of heavy government influence.”
Praxis Straetgy Group is cited in the article for developing occupational categories and notes “Praxis includes technicians jobs that typically require two-year degrees because they are often overlooked in the STEM conversation.”
“The definition consists of eight high-level categories (see here for all 93 five-digit occupations):
- Computer specialists (SOC 15-1)
- Mathematical science occupations (15-2);
- Engineers (17-2);
- Drafters, engineering, and mapping technicians (17-3);
- Life scientists (19-1);
- Physical scientists (19-2);
- Social scientists and related occupations (19-3);
- Life, physical, and social science technicians (19-4).”
Source: http://www.economicmodeling.com/2011/09/20/where-are-stem-jobs-concentrated/