Figure 12 shows the top ranked U.S. life sciences talent clusters sorted by total graduates in biological and biomedical sciences ending the 2020 academic year.
Clearly, size of metropolitan area and the tendency to have more educational institutions offers more graduates for companies to access. Figure 12 shows the nation’s two largest metropolitan areas, New York/New Jersey and Los Angeles/Orange County, producing the most graduates in biological and biomedical sciences. Chicago, the nation’s third-largest metro is not far behind, and the Northeast metros of Boston/Cambridge, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C./Baltimore have a major influence with their prestigious institutions. For its relative size, San Diego produces a disproportionate number of graduates in biological and biomedical sciences.
Figure 12 also shows the percentage of all Ph.D.s granted in biological and biomedical sciences in all major metros. Evaluating each market based on how many doctorates they produce, as opposed to all degrees, suggests a higher level of specialty and sophistication of study in some markets. The data shows New York/New Jersey grants the greater number and share of Ph.D.s in biological and biomedical sciences, but some of this is due to its simply larger student population. Other markets with outsized shares of Ph.D.s granted include Boston/Cambridge (e.g., Harvard, MIT), Washington, D.C./Baltimore (e.g., Johns Hopkins, George Washington University), San Francisco Bay Area (e.g., Stanford, Berkeley), Raleigh-Durham (e.g., Duke, University of North Carolina), Los Angeles/Orange County (e.g., UCLA, USC, UC-Irvine), and Houston (e.g., Rice University, University of Houston).
Figure 12: Life Sciences Educational Trends in Top U.S. Clusters
Source: U.S. Dept. of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, CBRE Research, Q1 2022.
Figure 13: Graduates in Biological and Biomedical Sciences in Top U.S. Clusters
*Scroll down to view data for all 25 markets.
Source: U.S. Dept. of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, CBRE Research, Q1 2022.