See where Colorado's cities ranked among the best places for careers in STEM fields. Hint: We did pretty well!
With Lockheed Martin just down the road and the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) based inside one of our mountains, it should be no surprise that Denver and Colorado Springs ranked highly on WalletHub's list of Best and Worst Metro Areas for STEM Professionals. Nevertheless, we're proud as punch. Denver came in at No. 14 among the 100 metro areas listed, with Colorado Springs following closely behind at No. 17. Careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) net significantly higher wages than many other fields, with an average annual salary of $87,570 back in 2015. The salary for people not working in STEM-related fields is $45,700, on average. (Cue my daughter's college applications to engineering programs ...) [caption id="attachment_30755" align="aligncenter" width="719"] Courtesy of WalletHub[/caption] So where is the best place to launch a career in science, technology, engineering, or math? Seattle. The home of Microsoft, Amazon, and many other high-tech companies, Seattle, Washington (No. 1), is ripe with STEM opportunities and can even afford to pay the high salaries, to boot. After Seattle (No. 1) were Boston, MA (No. 2), Pittsburgh, PA (No. 3), Austin, TX (No. 4), and Minneapolis, MN (No. 5). To come up with their rankings, WalletHub measured the 100 largest U.S. metro areas across 17 metrics, based on the following three key areas: professional opportunities (job openings and wages), STEM-friendliness (share/quality of engineering schools), and quality of life (family-friendliness and affordability of housing).
Denver scored 10th in professional opportunities, 24th in STEM-friendliness, and 37th in quality of life. On the other hand, Colorado Springs ranked 17th in opportunities, 54th in STEM-friendliness, and 20th in quality of life, though it also came in at No. 3 for highest annual median wage.
The worst U.S. city for STEM professionals was Jackson, MS. To read the rest of the WalletHub rankings, click here!
What do you think about the rankings? Coming in at Nos. 14 and 17 isn't bad! Leave a comment below, and let's get the conversation started!