Top 25 U.S. Metros for Life Sciences Research Talent

CBRE Research ranked the top U.S. markets for life sciences research talent in 2023.

This was based on a comprehensive analysis of data, including the total number and per-capita concentration of researchers and annual college graduates with life sciences-related degrees in each market. The top five markets remain in the Northeast Corridor and California. Compared with last year’s Life Sciences Research Talent 2022 report, Philadelphia and Denver/Boulder showed notable improvement, as did Miami/Fort Lauderdale and Atlanta. Smaller hubs, such as Sacramento, Austin, Albany and Pittsburgh, also had strong growth in the number and density of life sciences researchers and graduates with life sciences expertise.

Boston/Cambridge has a high number of life sciences researchers and graduates with life sciences expertise, but its top ranking is largely attributable to its concentration of talent. It has the highest number of bioengineers and biomedical engineers, biochemists and biophysicists, microbiologists, medical scientists and biological technicians. It has the nation’s highest concentration of biochemists and biophysicists, microbiologists and medical scientists.

Figure 20: Top 25 U.S. Metros for Life Sciences Research Talent

Source: CBRE Research, Q2 2023.

The San Francisco Bay Area, Washington, D.C./Baltimore and New York/New Jersey also have very large talent pools, along with high talent density. They host the largest number of data scientists, biological and life scientists and chemists. Also, because of their many prestigious research universities, they earned the highest scores for educational talent based on certain criteria.¹

San Diego and Raleigh/Durham, two relatively small markets in terms of total population, offer compelling opportunities to access life sciences research talent. They have sizable talent pools and very significant densities of researchers, underpinning thriving life sciences ecosystems.

¹ Educational talent scoring is based on a methodology detailed in the “Methodology & Approach” section.