Methodology & Approach

CBRE’s analysis encompassed the largest 74 U.S. life sciences labor markets (generally metros with 750,000+ populations) and evaluated each on various occupational and educational data. We then standardized the data to see how far each metro deviated from the group’s average. The standardized scores for each variable were then summed for each metro, for a final score.

The scoring methodology evaluates markets on a combination of talent volume (total number of researchers and graduates with life sciences expertise) and the density of talent that thriving life sciences clusters contain (per capita researchers, graduates, people employed in professional, scientific, and technical services, among others).

We identified the most relevant occupations and new graduates fueling life sciences industry growth. We measured and evaluated the number and density of life sciences researchers and new graduates with life sciences expertise. Many of the relative scores were weighted according to how closely they correlated to data from Boston/Cambridge, San Francisco Bay Area and San Diego. As the premier life sciences hubs, these markets likely reflect the most ideal elements for success as a life sciences cluster.

This logic supported the inclusion of two other datapoints: the concentration of all Ph.D.s in a metro area and the concentration of professional, scientific and technical services industries employment. These two indicators strongly correlate to primary and secondary life sciences researcher markets. They are also generally reflective of success as professional, scientific and technical clusters.