Atlanta recently ranked No. 10 on a list of cities for STEM professionals, or those who work in science, technology, engineering and mathematics careers. For the study, WalletHub analyzed U.S. Census Bureau data of the country’s 100 largest metropolitan areas.
WalletHub focused on three major indicators: professional opportunities, STEM-friendliness and quality of life. Atlanta scored best for professional opportunities — which measured job opportunities, work force, unemployment rate and wages — where it ranked No. 5.
Some of Atlanta’s fastest-growing and most innovative tech companies include QASymphony, Microsoft and Silverpop. The Atlanta Tech Village, a startup hub, is a community of thriving startups that are leading to the city’s surge in tech — according to a 2016 study, the number of tech jobs in the city spiked by 46.7 percent.
That trend should continue into 2018, as a recent report, the Robert Half Technology IT Hiring Forecast and Local Trend Report, found that 26 percent of Atlanta CIOs said they plan to add full-time employees this year.
Atlanta is considered to be a contender to land Amazon’s highly coveted second headquarters, HQ2. If Atlanta lands the development, the number of STEM jobs in the city would skyrocket, as the ecommerce giant says the headquarters will house 50,000 high-paying jobs.
City | Total Score | Professional opportunities rank | STEM-friendliness rank | Quality of life rank |
1. Seattle | 73.6 | 2 | 4 | 15 |
2. Boston | 71.94 | 7 | 1 | 43 |
3. Pittsburgh | 65.9 | 12 | 11 | 9 |
4. Austin, TX | 65.15 | 6 | 8 | 27 |
5. Minneapolis | 64.95 | 19 | 6 | 17 |
6. Madison, WI | 64 | 13 | 16 | 13 |
7. Salt Lake City | 62.96 | 9 | 14 | 18 |
8. Springfield, MA | 62.8 | 36 | 2 | 7 |
9. Chicago | 60.71 | 49 | 13 | 8 |
10. Atlanta | 60.69 | 5 | 5 | 31 |