The U.S. STEM workforce included 37 million workers in 2024, representing 26% of the total workforce. STEM workers also had a lower unemployment rate and higher median annual earnings than non-STEM workers, while the field remained unevenly distributed across occupations, states, education levels, and demographic groups.
Contents
- How large is the U.S. STEM workforce?
- How fast is STEM employment growing?
- Which STEM occupations have the most jobs and highest wages?
- Where are STEM workers employed?
- What do the statistics show about representation?
- How do foreign-born workers and education pathways shape STEM employment?
How large is the U.S. STEM workforce?
According to the National Science Board’s STEM Talent: Education, Training, and Workforce, the U.S. STEM workforce grew from 29 million workers in 2014 to 37 million in 2024. Its share of the total U.S. workforce increased from 23% to 26% over the same period. These NCSES estimates cover the employed civilian noninstitutionalized population ages 25–75 who were not currently in primary or secondary school. People with missing occupations, people who had never worked, and people who had not worked in the past five years are excluded. (NCSES, STEM Talent: Education, Training, and Workforce)
The 2024 STEM workforce was divided among three broad groups:
- S&E occupations accounted for 27% of STEM workers.
- S&E-related occupations accounted for 37%.
- STEM middle-skill occupations accounted for 35%.
Education requirements varied sharply across these groups. About 49% of STEM workers did not have a bachelor’s or advanced degree. Among STEM workers without a bachelor’s degree, 62% worked in STEM middle-skill occupations. A bachelor’s or advanced degree was held by 79% of S&E workers and 65% of S&E-related workers, compared with only 15% of STEM middle-skill workers. For comparison, 40% of non-STEM workers had a bachelor’s or advanced degree in 2024. (NCSES, STEM Talent: Education, Training, and Workforce)
The growth rate also differed by category. From 2014 to 2024, S&E employment grew 65%, S&E-related employment grew 26%, and STEM middle-skill employment grew 5%. This means the overall expansion of STEM employment included both highly degree-intensive occupations and large groups of workers whose roles do not typically require a bachelor’s degree.
How fast is STEM employment growing?
STEM employment is projected to grow faster than total U.S. employment during the 2024–2034 period. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects total U.S. employment to increase by 5.2 million jobs, or 3%, while employment in STEM occupations is projected to grow 6%. BLS-based NCSES projections show different rates within the STEM workforce: S&E occupations are projected to grow 9%, S&E-related occupations 8%, and STEM middle-skill occupations 3%. These are forecasts, not observed employment totals. (NCSES, STEM Talent: Education, Training, and Workforce)
The BLS STEM occupation projection table gives another view using its own STEM definition. It estimates 10.7837 million STEM jobs in 2024 and 11.6537 million in 2034, an increase of 870,000 jobs, or 8.1%. The NCSES and BLS classifications differ, so these totals and projections should not be combined into one series. (BLS, Employment in STEM occupations)
STEM workers also had a stronger labor-market position in 2024. Their unemployment rate was 2.4%, compared with 3.5% for non-STEM workers. Among full-time, year-round workers, the median annual earnings were $80,000 in STEM occupations and $60,000 in non-STEM occupations. Within STEM, S&E workers had the highest overall median annual earnings at $104,000, while STEM middle-skill workers had median annual earnings of $60,000. (NCSES, STEM Talent: Education, Training, and Workforce)
Which STEM occupations have the most jobs and highest wages?
BLS data using a broad definition of STEM occupations counted 20,684,110 STEM jobs in May 2023. Research, development, design, or practitioner occupations made up the largest group, with 13,314,360 jobs, or 64.4% of broad-definition STEM employment. Technologist and technician occupations accounted for 4,923,720 jobs. Managerial STEM occupations accounted for 1,412,020 jobs, followed by STEM postsecondary teaching occupations with 662,890 and STEM sales occupations with 371,120. (BLS, Employment and wages for alternate definitions of STEM occupations)
The same broad-definition data show large differences across STEM subdomains. Health had 10.1 million jobs in May 2023. Life and physical science, engineering, mathematics, and information technology together had 10.0 million jobs. The social science STEM subdomain had 420,830 jobs, while architecture had 139,880.
Annual mean wages varied substantially by occupation type:
| STEM occupation type | Jobs or wage measure | Annual mean wage, May 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Managerial | 1,412,020 jobs | $161,810 |
| Research, development, design, or practitioner | 13,314,360 jobs | $119,940 |
| Sales | 371,120 jobs | $116,240 |
| Postsecondary teaching | 662,890 jobs | $112,340 |
| Technologist and technician | 4,923,720 jobs | $60,440 |
Across the broad-definition STEM workforce, the annual mean wage was $108,330 in May 2023, compared with $65,470 for all occupations. These BLS figures are annual mean wages for May 2023 and use the broad STEM occupation definitions described in the source. (BLS, Employment and wages for alternate definitions of STEM occupations)
Where are STEM workers employed?
STEM employment is concentrated in large states, but the STEM share of each state’s workforce varies. California, Texas, and Florida together contained 26% of the U.S. STEM workforce in 2024. Vermont and Washington had the highest state STEM-workforce shares, at 29% each. Nevada had the lowest reported state share, at 21%. (NCSES, STEM Talent: Education, Training, and Workforce)
Education patterns also differed by state. West Virginia had the largest share of STEM workers without a bachelor’s degree, at 65%. The District of Columbia had the highest share of STEM workers with a bachelor’s or advanced degree, at 86%, followed by Massachusetts at 63%.
Rural and urban areas had the same overall STEM employment share in 2023: 25% of workers in each area were employed in STEM occupations. The composition was different, however. STEM middle-skill occupations represented 13% of rural workers, compared with 9% of urban workers. S&E occupations represented 3% of rural workers and 7% of urban workers. (NCSES, STEM Talent: Education, Training, and Workforce)
STEM employment also has a strong industry dimension. In 2024, health care and social assistance had the highest STEM share among major industries, at 47%, followed by utilities at 45%. Among S&E workers, professional, scientific, and technical services employed 26% in 2024, while the information sector employed 17%.
What do the statistics show about representation?
Men made up 64% of the 37 million STEM workers in 2024. The distribution differed considerably by STEM category: men accounted for 72% of S&E workers and 89% of STEM middle-skill workers, while women accounted for 65% of S&E-related workers. (NCSES, STEM Talent: Education, Training, and Workforce)
STEM employment shares also varied across racial and ethnic groups. In 2024, 39% of Asian workers were employed in STEM occupations, the highest reported share. White workers had a 27% STEM-employment share. The STEM-employment share was between 20% and 22% for Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, American Indian or Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander workers.
Veteran status showed another difference. Among employed veterans in 2024, 33% were in STEM occupations, compared with 25% of employed nonveterans. These figures describe the share of each employed population working in STEM, rather than the demographic composition of STEM workers as a whole.
How do foreign-born workers and education pathways shape STEM employment?
Foreign-born workers represented 22% of the 37 million U.S. STEM workforce in 2024, or about 8 million workers, compared with 21% of the general workforce. Within STEM, foreign-born workers represented 28% of S&E occupations, 19% of S&E-related occupations, and 22% of STEM middle-skill occupations. Mexico was the largest origin country for foreign-born STEM workers, with 1.4 million workers in 2024. Among foreign-born workers in U.S. S&E occupations, India accounted for 29% and China for 12%. (NCSES, STEM Talent: Education, Training, and Workforce)
Foreign-born representation increased with degree level among S&E workers in 2023. Foreign-born workers represented 20% of S&E workers whose highest degree was a bachelor’s, 39% of those with a master’s, and 46% of those with a doctorate. At the doctoral level, 57% of computer and mathematical scientists and 58% of engineers working in the United States were foreign born.
The education pipeline expanded in several areas between 2014 and 2024. U.S. S&E degree awards rose 22% at the associate’s level, 17% at the bachelor’s level, 77% at the master’s level, and 13% at the doctoral level. Computer and information sciences bachelor’s degrees increased from 56,055 in 2014 to 121,836 in 2024. (NCSES, STEM Talent: Education, Training, and Workforce)
Not every student who becomes a STEM major completes a STEM degree. Among fall 2009 ninth graders who became STEM majors, 55% completed a STEM degree, 16% completed a non-STEM degree, and 29% completed no degree by spring 2021. These outcomes describe that specific cohort and follow-up period, rather than a forecast for current students.