A new study released today ranks the Bakersfield metro area fourth nationwide in the prevalence technical jobs: science, computer technology, engineering and math.

The Hidden STEM Economy | Brookings Institution

Kern No. 4 for Technical Job

June 10, 2013

Excerpted from Sacramento Business Journal

A new study released today ranks the Bakersfield metro area fourth nationwide in the prevalence technical jobs: science, computer technology, engineering and math.

The Brookings Institution studied jobs requiring science, technology or mathematics --- or STEM – education among the nation’s largest 100 metro areas. The authors found that they accounted for about 20 percent of jobs nationally in 2011, or 26 million positions. About half of those technical jobs do not require a college degree.

Some metro areas on the top-25 list are predictable, like San Jose, San Francisco and Boston. Others are not — such as Bakersfield, where the oil industry plays a central role. The number of blue-collar technical jobs put Bakersfield ahead of Seattle on the Brookings list.

The top ten metro areas for STEM jobs were,

1.       San Jose

2.       Washington, DC

3.       Melbourne, Florida

4.       Bakersfield

5.       Seattle

6.       Houston

7.       Madison, Wisconsin

8.       Boston

9.       Baltimore

10.   San Diego

Metro areas that ranked in the top 25 had higher median incomes, lower unemployment rates and better employment growth rates than other large cities, the Brookings study found.

The Bakersfield metro area includes all of Kern County.

For the complete report: http://www.brookings.edu/research/reports/2013/06/10-stem-economy-rothwell