11 Jul Madison Leads Midwest With More Than 10% of Residents in STEM Roles
“Brain drain” has long been a topic of discussion when it comes to the Midwest — and it’s true across rural areas and cities alike. However, research from Josie Schafer at the University of Nebraska has found that workers tend to stay where there is job density, not just a single opportunity.
On that front, Madison, Wis., stands out with 10,554 out of 100,000 residents employed in science, technology, engineering or math — the highest STEM concentration in the Midwest and the only city in the region where more than one in 10 people works in these fields. This depth has built up gradually through the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the STEM jobs it helps to produce. In particular, UW Health and Epic Systems (a health care software firm founded by UW-Madison alumni four decades ago) now employs more than 10,000 people. Altogether, Madison supports nearly 30,000 STEM jobs with projections of further growth through the federally backed Wisconsin Biohealth Tech Hub.