Boston — The Boston/Cambridge market ranks #1 overall on CBRE’s inaugural Life Sciences Talent Report, producing the highest number and density of talent.According to the report, which identifies the top 25 life sciences labor markets in the country, Boston benefits from its substantial number of universities and top-tier research institutions that produces the most well educated and diverse gendered workforces in the nation. The Boston/Cambridge life sciences ecosystem thrives as a metro with a strong concentration of Ph.D. holders in any discipline (2.9%) and persons employed in professional, scientific and technical services (12.1%). “Boston is the country’s top market for major employers seeking to find the best talent,” said Eric Smith, Executive Vice President, CBRE. “We have more biochemists and biophysicists, medical scientists, bioengineers and biomedical engineers, and biological technicians in Boston/Cambridge than any other market in the country.”According to CBRE, Boston/Cambridge produces the second largest share of biological and biomedical sciences doctorate degrees in the country, with pools of life sciences research talent located along two of the region’s notable subway lines: the Green line, running west through Brookline and Newton, and the Red Line, stretching through Cambridge and the city of Boston. As a result of the market’s growth over the past several years, Boston/Cambridge’s $12.4 billion in VC funding in 2021 superseded any other market by over $5.4 billion. Job growth in life sciences professions nationally – from bioengineers and biochemists to microbiologists and data scientists – expanded by 79 percent since 2001 to roughly 500,000. In comparison, the overall U.S. job growth rate in that span was 8 percent. That surge in life sciences jobs boosted mainstay markets such as Boston and San Francisco as well as emerging hubs including Nashville, Salt Lake City and Houston.CBRE assessed each market against multiple criteria, including its number of life sciences jobs and graduates, life sciences’ share of each market’s overall job and graduate pool, its number of doctorate degree holders in life sciences, and its concentration of jobs in the broader professional, scientific and technical services professions. The analysis produced CBRE’s inaugural ranking of the leading markets for U.S. life sciences talent.
| Rank | Market | Score | Rank | Market | Score |
| 1 | Boston/Cambridge | 138 | 14 | Atlanta | 103.5 |
| 2 | Washington, D.C./Baltimore | 129.8 | 15 | Worcester, MA | 102.6 |
| 3 | San Francisco Bay Area | 126.2 | 16 | Dallas/Fort Worth | 102 |
| 4 | New York/New Jersey | 124.3 | 17 | Sacramento | 101.8 |
| 5 | San Diego | 120.3 | 18 | Austin | 101.5 |
| 6 | Raleigh-Durham | 114.8 | 19 | Salt Lake City | 101.4 |
| 7 | Los Angeles/Orange County | 113.8 | 20 | New Haven, CT | 100.8 |
| 8 | Philadelphia | 113.5 | 21 | Portland, OR | 100.7 |
| 9 | Seattle | 109.4 | 22 | Miami | 100.7 |
| 10 | Chicago | 107.6 | 23 | Nashville | 100.6 |
| 11 | Denver/Boulder | 106.9 | 24 | Albany, NY | 100.3 |
| 12 | Minneapolis/St. Paul | 106.4 | 25 | Pittsburgh | 100 |
| 13 | Houston | 104.1 |
The report delves into additional analysis, such as which markets have the highest concentrations of life sciences researchers (led by Boston). To read the full report, click here.
