Bethesda, Rockville on List of Best Cities for STEM Careers

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A study of the best places to live to earn a top salary in a STEM career put Bethesda at the top of the list, ahead of California’s Silicon Valley.

The country has a continuing shortage of workers skilled in science, technology, engineering or math. SmartAsset’s study says that raising the pay for those jobs – which already pay better than programmers or software engineers – can boost the number of STEM workers.

According to the website, there are at least 13 different STEM positions that pay over $100,000 per year on average in the Bethesda area. The study broadened the analysis to include Rockville and Frederick, as well. Average pay in the region for STEM jobs is $100,787.

Ranking second in pay was San Francisco, followed by Washington, D.C, and then Oakland and San Jose in California.

Nationally, the average pay for a STEM job is $82,832, SmartAsset says.

Here’s how the website describes the Bethesda STEM climate:

1. Bethesda-Rockville-Frederick, Maryland

Top three STEM jobs for pay: nuclear engineer ($140,920 per year), physicist ($136,770), mathematician ($133,580).

Notable STEM Employers: National Institute of Health, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Human Genome Sciences, Lockheed Martin, Bethesda Softworks.

The Bethesda-Rockville-Frederick metro area is home to the National Institute of Health as well as Lockheed Martin, one of the largest military contractors in the world. That means that, despite the area’s relatively small population, there are plenty of well-paying jobs for STEM workers. According to our analysis, there are at least 13 different STEM positions that pay over $100,000 per year on average in the Bethesda metro area. And that’s not all Bethesda has going for it: it is also home to the state of Maryland’s healthiest housing market.

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