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Workforce
Quartiles | Findings | Description
Life and physical scientists as share of workforce: 2003
Life and physical scientists as share of workforce: 2003
Quartiles
Life and physical scientists as share of workforce: 2003*
| 1st Quartile (1.88%–0.43%) |
2nd Quartile (0.42%–0.34%) |
3rd Quartile (0.33%–0.26%) |
4th Quartile (0.25%–0.14%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska | California | Alabama | Arizona |
| Colorado | Minnesota | Connecticut | Arkansas |
| Delaware | Nebraska | Georgia | Florida |
| District of Columbia | New Mexico | Hawaii | Indiana |
| Idaho | New York | Illinois | Iowa |
| Maryland | North Dakota | Kansas | Kentucky |
| Massachusetts | Oregon | Louisiana | Michigan |
| Montana | South Dakota | Maine | Nevada |
| New Jersey | Texas | Mississippi | New Hampshire |
| North Carolina | Virginia | Missouri | Oklahoma |
| Pennsylvania | West Virginia | Ohio | South Carolina |
| Utah | Wisconsin | Rhode Island | Vermont |
| Washington | Tennessee | ||
| Wyoming | |||
| *States in alphabetical order, not data order.
SOURCES: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates; and Local Area Unemployment Statistics. See |
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Findings
- Nearly 500,000 individuals, or 0.36% of the workforce, were employed as life and physical scientists in the United States in 2003.
- In 2003, individual states had indicator values ranging from 0.14% to 0.92%, which showed major differences in the concentration of jobs in the life and physical sciences.
- The District of Columbia was an outlier at 1.88%, reflecting the number of individuals who work there but live in neighboring states.
Description
This indicator shows a state’s ability to attract and retain life and physical scientists. Life scientists are identified from nine standard occupational codes that include agricultural and food scientists, biological scientists, conservation scientists and foresters, and medical scientists. Physical scientists are identified from 16 standard occupational codes that include astronomers, physicists, atmospheric and space scientists, chemists, materials scientists, environmental scientists, geoscientists, and postsecondary teachers in these subject areas. A high share of life and physical scientists could indicate several scenarios ranging from a robust cluster of life science companies to a high percentage of acreage in forests or national parks. The latter requires foresters, wildlife specialists, and conservationists to manage the natural assets in an area with low population density.
The location of life and physical scientists reflects where the individuals work and is based on estimates from the Occupational Employment Statistics survey, a cooperative program between the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and state employment security agencies. The size of a state’s civilian workforce is estimated from the BLS Current Population Survey, which assigns workers to a location based on residence. Because of this difference and the sample-based nature of the data, estimates for sparsely populated states and the District of Columbia may be imprecise.
