Growth in US Life Sciences Jobs Spreads Beyond Sector’s Flagship Markets

Raleigh, NC – June 15, 2022 – A new analysis conducted by CBRE identifies the 25 top U.S. life sciences labor markets - ranging from established hotbeds like Boston to emerging hubs like Pittsburgh - illustrating that the fast-growing industry extends well beyond the coastal research hubs for which it is mostly known. Raleigh-Durham ranked number six amongst the top 25.

Job growth in life sciences professions – 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 Raleigh-Durham 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.

“Raleigh-Durham’s workforce has been a strong driver in attracting and retaining life science companies to our market. Our market’s low cost of living comparative to other major markets, along with its direct access to labor from local university systems are major contributors to this workforce. This report highlights Raleigh-Durham’s overall talent and the advantages it offers companies who do business here,” said Executive Vice President Lee Clyburn.

Another factor reflecting the sector’s growth: the number of U.S. graduates receiving degrees in biological and biomedical sciences reached nearly 164,000 in 2020, twice as many as 15 years earlier. Even with that influx of talent, the unemployment rate for life, physical and social sciences was less than 1 percent as of April 2022. Raleigh-Durham in particularly produces significant PhDs in biological and biomedical sciences. 14.2 percent of all biological and biomedical sciences degrees issued in the market were at the PhD level.

CBRE’s analysis allows for examination of the 25 markets from various angles. For example, the markets with the greatest percentage gains in life sciences research jobs from 2015 to 2020 were emerging life sciences hubs Nashville, Dallas-Fort Worth, Salt Lake City, Atlanta and Miami.

A few markets carry a high percentage of life sciences PhDs in relation to the size of their overall life sciences labor pool, often fueled by leading research and higher education institutions. 2.9% of the population in Raleigh-Durham holds a PhD, the highest share of any major market.

Another unexpected finding likely is relevant for expanding companies; Life sciences wages don’t vary geographically as much as those of many other industries do. Yet the market-to-market variance of cost of living means some markets are more affordable for life sciences workers than others.

The report delves into additional analysis, such as which markets have the highest concentrations of life sciences researchers (led by Boston), which registered the most percentage growth in research talent from 2015 to 2020 (led by Nashville), and which have the highest shares of biomedical and biological PhDs in their life sciences workforces (including Houston, Raleigh-Durham and the San Francisco Bay Area).

“Quality and availability of labor are key considerations for any expanding industry, and that’s certainly the case for life sciences,” said Ian Anderson, CBRE’s Americas Head of Life Science and Healthcare Research. “Lab vacancy rates are tight in most markets, even amid strong construction activity. Expanding life sciences companies can choose from dozens of U.S. markets depending on their labor and real estate needs.”

To read the full report, click here.

CBRE|Raleigh is a CBRE office serving the Triangle region and is a joint venture between local principals and CBRE Group, Inc. The firm assists real estate owners, investors and occupiers by offering strategic advice and execution for property leasing and sales; property, facilities and project management; corporate services; debt and equity financing; investment management; valuation and appraisal; research and investment strategy; and consulting. In 2021, the Raleigh office completed $3.3 billion of sales and leasing transactions. Please visit our website at www.cbre.us/raleigh.