BIO2016: Where the Bioscience Jobs Are and the Current Trends

BIO2016: Where the Bioscience Jobs Are and the Current Trends June 7, 2016
By Mark Terry, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff

BIO and TEConomy released a report today at the 2016 BIO International Convention titled “The Value of Bioscience Innovation in Growing Jobs and Improving Quality of Life.”

Among many things the report indicates is that employment in the U.S. bioscience industry has increased for the last four years, and that U.S. bioscience companies employ 1.66 million people.

Here's a state-by-state peak at the findings:

Alabama
With almost 14,000 people employed in biosciences, Alabama’s focus is on agricultural feedstock and chemicals, as well as a strong concentration in academic research-and-development expenditures compared to other fields. See Alabama jobs.

Alaska
The state’s bioscience industry employs more than 800 people across 114 business in 2014, mostly in research, testing, and medical labs, as well as bioscience-related distribution positions. See jobs at Pace Analytical.

Arizona
The state’s academic institutions are responsible for about $400 million in bioscience-related research-and-development expenditures in 2014, while NIH funding totaled $150.6 million in 2015. See Arizona jobs.

Arkansas
Like Alabama, Arkansas’ bioscience focus is agricultural feedstock and chemicals. It employs 6,617 people in the industry in 2014, spread across 628 businesses. See Arkansas jobs.

California
The strongest and largest bioscience industry employment base in the country, California has more than 242,000 jobs, which is almost 15 percent of all life science jobs in the U.S. Although it’s very diverse, three of the top five subsectors include medical devices and equipment; research, testing and medical labs; and drugs and pharmaceuticals. See California jobs.

Colorado
One of Colorado’s specialty areas is medical device and equipment manufacturing. It employs almost 30,000 people in 2015 in biosciences. See Colorado jobs.

Connecticut
Dominated by two subsectors—medical devices and equipment, and drugs and pharmaceuticals—Connecticut has lost jobs overall since 2012, although research, testing, and medical labs has seen 23 percent growth from 2012 to 2014. See Connecticut jobs.

Delaware
Delaware, home of DuPont , reports average annual wages among its bioscience workers of more than $120,00 in 2014, highest in the U.S. See Delaware jobs.

District of Columbia
Most of the 2,000 bioscience jobs in Washington, D.C. are in research, testing, and medical labs, with little manufacturing activities. Its R&D activities are at numerous universities and research institutions. See jobs at Adesis and Vanda.

Florida
Florida has almost 83,000 bioscience jobs spread across 5,895 businesses, with a particularly high concentration in agricultural feedstock and chemicals. Startlingly, 4,904 bioscience patents have been issued to Florida investors since 2012. See jobs at AGTC, AxoGen, and Brammer Bio.

Georgia
Bioscience job growth has increased by 6.8 percent in Georgia since 2012. Venture capital investment has hit $615 million since 2012. See Georgia jobs.

Hawaii
About two-thirds of Hawaii’s bioscience jobs are in research, testing, and medical labs. The average annual wage in bioscience is just over $60,000. See jobs at Tissue Genesis.

Idaho
Idaho has a broad bioscience industry, with particular concentration in agricultural feedstock and chemicals; bioscience-related distribution; and research, testing, and medical labs. There are about 7,403 bioscience jobs in the state. See jobs at Advanced Clinical Research.

Illinois
There are about 81,000 bioscience jobs spread across 3,744 businesses in 2014, and employment in the industry rose by 3.1 percent from 2012 to 2014. See Illinois jobs.

Indiana
Diversity is the name of the game in Indiana, with more than 58,000 jobs across 1,727 businesses. Jobs are in three of the five major subsectors, agricultural feedstock and chemicals; drugs and pharmaceuticals; and medical devices. See Indiana jobs.

Iowa
Iowa’s bioscience jobs have grown 7 percent from 2012 to 2014, employing almost 25,000 people. Not surprisingly, it is the leader in agricultural biosciences. See Iowa jobs.

Kansas
Kansas has had a net job growth of 5.6 percent since 2012 in the biosciences, with a 13 percent growth in drugs and pharmaceuticals. See Kansas jobs.

Kentucky
he state has had 6 percent bioscience growth since 2012. The state’s universities had about $383 million in bioscience academic research and development in 2014, about 76 percent of all academic research. See jobs at Catalent.

Louisiana
There are almost 11,000 bioscience jobs spread over 1,046 businesses in Louisiana, with employment growth of 4.6 percent since 2012. See Louisiana jobs.

Maine
Maine’s area of concentration is drugs and pharmaceuticals, which is 35 percent higher than the national average. See Maine jobs.

Maryland
Maryland’s bioscience industry is concentrated on research, testing, and medical labs, and drugs and pharmaceuticals. Institutions in the state received almost $1.3 billion in NIH funding in 2015. See Maryland jobs.

Massachusetts
Massachusetts tops the country in biosciences, employing more than 81,000 people in 2014 across 2,227 businesses. In 2015 the state received more than $2.4 billion in NIH funding, and companies received almost $9.5 billion in venture capital since 2012. See Massachusetts jobs.

Michigan
There are more than 44,000 bioscience jobs in Michigan spread across 1,833 businesses. It has grown by 5.7 percent since 2012. See jobs at Enzo Life Sciences and Gene Codes.

Minnesota
With almost 50,000 bioscience jobs in 2014, more than half of those jobs are in specialized medical devices and equipment. See jobs at ANI Pharma and Medtronic.

Mississippi
Mississippi specializes in agricultural feedstock and chemicals, and has had 5.2 percent growth in bioscience jobs since 2012. See jobs at ANI Pharma and Baxter.

Missouri
There were about 27,000 bioscience jobs in Missouri in 2014, with the highest concentration in agbioscience. See Missouri jobs.

Montana
With a relatively small bioscience industry presence, Montana has about 2,800 jobs across 405 businesses, with the largest subsector being bioscience-related distribution. See jobs at Bacterin and Takeda.

Nebraska
Agricultural feedstock and chemicals and bioscience-related distribution subsectors dominate in Nebraska, which has almost 16,000 bioscience jobs across 1,032 businesses. See jobs at Celerion and Transgenomic.

Nevada
The bioscience sectors strongest in Nevada are in research, testing, and medical labs, and in bioscience-related distribution. See Nevada jobs.

New Hampshire
New Hampshire employs about 5,300 bioscience jobs across 257 business establishments, with the highest specialization in medical devices and equipment. See New Hampshire jobs.

New Jersey
New Jersey employs almost 88,000 bioscientists across 2,585 business establishments. The state’s economy’s biosciences sector is 89 percent more concentrated than the national average. See New Jersey jobs.

New Mexico
With more than 7,700 bioscience jobs across 625 businesses, New Mexico’s average bioscience salaries were more than $75,000 in 2014. See jobs at Intellicyt.

New York
Another big state, New York employs about 76,000 people in biosciences across 3,054 businesses. Overall industry job growth has been flat since 2012. See New York jobs.

North Carolina
North Carolina’s bioscience industry has more than 70,000 workers in 3,179 businesses. The state’s universities reported bioscience-related academic research and development spending over $2 billion in 2014. See North Carolina jobs.

North Dakota
Relatively small in terms of bioscience, North Dakota employs 4,159 across 524 businesses, and has shown about a 4 percent increase in jobs from 2012 to 2014. See jobs at Aldevron and Novum Clinical Research.

Ohio
Employing more than 48,000 people across 2,696 bioscience businesses, hiring has been flat since 2012. Since 2012, Ohio inventors have been issued 4,438 bioscience patents. See Ohio jobs.

Oklahoma
Oklahoma’s bioscience industry focuses on bioscience-related distribution, and research, testing, and medical labs. It hired more than 8,300 people in 2014. See jobs at Accele Bio and IMMY.

Oregon
Bioscience employment has improved by 3.5 percent since 2012, with about 14,000 jobs in 2014 across 845 businesses. See jobs at AbSci, Acumed and Bioclinica.

Pennsylvania
There are more than 77,000 bioscience jobs across 2,358 businesses in Pennsylvania, with a concentration of bioscience jobs 9 percent greater than the national average. However, from 2012 to 2014, bioscience employment dropped overall. See Pennsylvania jobs.

Puerto Rico
For its size, Puerto Rico’s bioscience industry is fairly large, employing almost 38,000 people in 1,014 businesses. See Puerto Rico jobs.

Rhode Island
Rhode Island’s bioscience industry is primarily focused on drugs and pharmaceuticals, and medical devices and equipment. Its bioscience employment base has increased by 16.5 percent since 2012. See jobs at CNS Research, and Denison Pharma and Tedor Pharma.

South Carolina
South Carolina employs about 14,000 people across 1,298 business in the biosciences. Bioscience employment has increased by 2.1 percent since 2012. See jobs at Alcami, and Ipsen and Roche.

South Dakota
A diverse bioscience industry, South Dakota has almost 5,800 bioscience jobs across 420 businesses, with its major focus being agricultural feedstock and chemicals; bioscience-related distribution; and medical devices and equipment. See jobs at SAB Biotherapeutics.

Tennessee
The state has more than 40,000 bioscience jobs spanning 1,275 businesses. It has 21 percent great bioscience concentration jobs than the national average. See jobs at EDP Biotech, NeoGenomics and UPM Pharma.

Texas
With more than 81,000 bioscience jobs across 4,865 businesses, the industry has grown by way of employment by 1 percent since 2012. NIH funding to Texas academic and non-academic institutions totaled $1 billion in 2015. See Texas jobs.

Utah
This state’s bioscience concentration is in medical devices; drugs and pharmaceuticals; and research, testing and medical labs. Venture capital funding has increased significantly recently, totaling $331 million from 2012 to 2015. See Utah jobs.

Vermont
Rather small, Vermont’s bioscience industry has about 2,500 jobs across 207 businesses. Three of its five bioscience subsectors have had a 4 percent decline in employment. See jobs at BioTek Instruments and Mylan.

Virginia
Bioscience jobs have declined by 2 percent in Virginia from 2012 to 2014, although medical devices and bioscience-related distribution added jobs, with medical devices growing almost 9 percent during that period. See Virginia jobs.

Washington
There are 29,000 bioscience jobs across 1,421 businesses in Washington, although the industry has seen a 1.9 percent decline in jobs since 2012. See Washington jobs.

West Virginia
There are 6,400 bioscience jobs across 419 business entities, with a 0.6 percent increase in employment since 2012. See jobs at Bayer, Cardinal Health and Mylan.

Wisconsin
Wisconsin boasts 32,000 bioscience jobs across 1,264 businesses. Bioscience employment has been flat since 2012, although there has been an increase in research, testing, and medical labs, and drugs and pharmaceuticals. See Wisconsin jobs.

Wyoming
Wyoming’s small bioscience industry, which employed 945 in 2014, has increased employment by 7 percent since 2012. The largest subsector is agricultural feedstock and chemicals. See Wyoming jobs.

“This report highlights the long-term expansion of our industry and the significant impact of the high-paying jobs that come with developing the innovative technologies that are helping to heal, fuel, and feed the world,” said Jim Greenwood, president and chief executive officer of BIO, in a statement.

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