Sacramento Makes List for Top STEM Pay in Nation

The top metro area for STEM pay in the U.S. is, of course……Bethesda, Maryland?!

While the Bay Area dominated the Top 5, taking three of the spots, it was edged out for No. 1 by Bethesda-Rockville-Frederick in Maryland, according to an analysis conducted by SmartAsset. Located just outside Washington, D.C., top STEM employers include the National Institute of Health and Lockheed-Martin. Paychecks average $100,787.

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Also on the list at No. 12 is Sacramento. SmartAsset raved about Sacramento, saying, “California’s state capital offers a strong environment for STEM workers. Rocket-engine manufacturer Aerojet Rocketdyne, which designs the propulsion engines for many of NASA’s shuttles and launch systems, leads the way, employing hundreds of engineers at its Rancho Cordova headquarters. The Sacramento-Arden Arcade-Roseville area is also home to offices of a number of notable computer companies, including Apple and chip-maker Intel.”

The top three STEM jobs by pay in the Sacramento area: electrical engineer ($116,750 per year), physicist ($114,340), aerospace engineer ($111,520).

San Francisco, which includes San Mateo and Redwood City, came in second. (But compare housing prices to Sacramento’s.) The average STEM paycheck is $100K, with chemical engineer drawing top dollar at $128,550. Credit the biotech companies for those jobs.

Washington, D.C is No. 3 on the list. The U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, NASA, U.S. Naval Observatory, and Northrop Grumman are the major STEM employers.

Looking for a job as a nuclear engineer? The East Bay is the place to be. Salaries average $132,950 per year. Overall, STEM jobs in the Oakland-Fremont-Hayward area average $95,032.

And rounding out the Top 5 is San Jose, traditionally known to the rest of the world as Silicon Valley. The average STEM job pays $94,609, with the top three: statistician ($134,440 per year), computer hardware engineer ($133,660), and software developer – systems ($130,790).

Orange County, Los Angeles and Sacramento also made the Top 12.

The national average for a STEM job isn’t bad: $82,832.

The Best Cities for Pay in STEM:

1. Bethesda-Rockville-Frederick, Maryland $100,787

2. San Francisco, California $100,324

3. Washington, D.C. $98,618

4. Oakland, CA $95,032

5. San Jose, CA $94,609

6. Edison-New Brunswick, New Jersey $93,995

7. Orange County, California $93,437

8. Newark, New Jersey $93,075

9. Los Angeles, California $91,358

10. Boston, Massachusetts $91,151

11. New York, New York $90,573

12. Sacramento, California $89,739

--Photo via Shutterstock