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Chapter 8. State Indicators

Workforce


Computer Specialists as Share of Workforce


Quartiles

Computer specialists as share of workforce: 2008 (Percent)
 
1st quartile
(9.68% – 2.10%)		 2nd quartile
(2.09% – 1.74%)		 3rd quartile
(1.72% – 1.20%)		 4th quartile
(1.19% – 0.68%)
 
Colorado Arizona Alabama‡ Alaska‡
Connecticut California Florida Arkansas‡
Delaware‡ Georgia Hawaii‡ Kentucky‡
District of Columbia Illinois Idaho‡ Louisiana‡
Maryland Michigan Indiana Maine‡
Massachusetts Missouri Iowa Mississippi‡
Minnesota Nebraska‡ Kansas‡ Montana‡
New Hampshire‡ New York New Mexico‡ Nevada‡
New Jersey North Carolina Oklahoma‡ North Dakota‡
Texas Ohio South Dakota‡ South Carolina‡
Utah Oregon Tennessee West Virginia‡
Virginia Pennsylvania Vermont‡ Wyoming‡
Washington Rhode Island‡ Wisconsin
 
‡ EPSCoR state

SOURCES: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates; and Local Area Unemployment Statistics. See Data Table.



Findings

  • In the United States, 3.20 million individuals (2.08% of the workforce) were employed as computer specialists in 2008, similar to the 2.81 million computer specialists employed in 2004, which accounted for 2.02% of the workforce.
  • Individual states showed large differences in the intensity of computer-related operations in their economies, with 0.68% to 4.16% of their workforce employed in computer-related occupations in 2008.
  • There was a significant concentration of computer-intensive occupations in the District of Columbia and the adjacent states of Maryland and Virginia. This may be due to the presence of many government offices, colleges and universities, and government contractors in the area that employ scientists and engineers, especially computer scientists.
  • EPSCoR states tended to have smaller percentages of computer specialists in their workforces, suggesting that their economies are less technically oriented in this respect.


Description

This indicator shows the extent to which a state's workforce makes use of specialists with advanced computer training. Computer specialists are identified from 10 standard occupational codes that include computer and information scientists, programmers, software engineers, support specialists, systems analysts, database administrators, and network and computer system administrators. Higher values may indicate a state workforce that is better able to thrive in an information economy or to embrace and utilize computer technology.

State data on individuals in S&E occupations come from the Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey, which surveys states' workplaces and assigns workers to a state based on where they work. The survey is conducted as part of a cooperative program between the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and state employment security agencies. State data on the size of the civilian workforce are BLS estimates based on the Current Population Survey, which assigns workers to a state based on where they live.

Situations in which workers live in one state and work in another introduce some imprecision into the calculation of this indicator. The treatment of postsecondary teachers is another source of imprecision. Because OES data do not classify postsecondary teachers by field, in these data, faculty teaching in S&E fields are not counted as working in S&E occupations. Estimates for states with smaller populations are generally less precise than estimates for states with larger populations.

Data Table

Table 8-32
Computer specialists as share of workforce, by state: 2004, 2006, and 2008
 
  Computer specialists   Employed workforce   Computer specialists in workforce (%)
State 2004 2006 2008   2004 2006 2008   2004 2006 2008
 
EPSCoR states 276,210 310,990 317,290   22,500,274 23,256,125 24,693,283   1.23 1.34 1.28
Non-EPSCoR states 2,476,430 2,613,670 2,713,430   116,427,682 121,028,830 128,973,351   2.13 2.16 2.10
Average EPSCoR state value na na na   na na na   1.25 1.39 1.32
Average non-EPSCoR state value na na na   na na na   2.17 2.21 2.15
United States 2,806,910 2,960,460 3,198,050   139,213,523 144,581,912 153,999,337   2.02 2.05 2.08
Alabama 28,320 32,720 33,010   2,014,678 2,120,573 2,162,479   1.41 1.54 1.53
Alaska 3,320 3,810 3,720   312,922 323,531 357,136   1.06 1.18 1.04
Arizona 45,930 49,180 54,520   2,649,243 2,854,381 3,132,667   1.73 1.72 1.74
Arkansas 12,470 a 13,360 15,500   1,228,163 1,292,886 1,370,259   1.02 1.03 1.13
California 370,180 380,040 383,900   16,444,457 17,029,307 18,391,844   2.25 2.23 2.09
Colorado 74,940 76,200 79,930   2,384,562 2,537,037 2,730,447   3.14 3.00 2.93
Connecticut 44,120 44,160 40,900   1,714,758 1,765,075 1,876,125   2.57 2.50 2.18
Delaware 8,730 a 11,930 11,950   408,022 424,506 442,902   2.14 2.81 2.70
District of Columbia 28,040 31,810 32,210   285,567 296,957 332,703   9.82 10.71 9.68
Florida 137,740 143,450 141,320   8,056,259 8,692,761 9,231,462   1.71 1.65 1.53
Georgia 94,080 89,390 86,210   4,257,465 4,522,025 4,847,650   2.21 1.98 1.78
Hawaii 7,440 8,140 7,840   597,147 628,277 654,261   1.25 1.30 1.20
Idaho 8,710 10,180 9,410   670,746 723,621 754,879   1.30 1.41 1.25
Illinois 114,860 a 129,880 137,420   6,012,320 6,315,715 6,697,335   1.91 2.06 2.05
Indiana 37,540 37,230 39,850   3,017,271 3,108,806 3,230,367   1.24 1.20 1.23
Iowa 22,650 24,940 26,400   1,542,342 1,602,849 1,675,981   1.47 1.56 1.58
Kansas 20,850 24,110 25,750   1,378,713 1,400,169 1,496,943   1.51 1.72 1.72
Kentucky 23,800 23,510 24,250   1,859,902 1,922,163 2,042,915   1.28 1.22 1.19
Louisiana 18,500 17,090 16,020   1,926,594 1,910,348 2,078,935   0.96 0.89 0.77
Maine 6,860 7,640 7,660   661,163 678,843 706,829   1.04 1.13 1.08
Maryland 92,450 91,040 89,900   2,766,653 2,892,620 2,997,709   3.34 3.15 3.00
Massachusetts 103,280 109,430 111,910   3,204,653 3,234,860 3,424,018   3.22 3.38 3.27
Michigan 74,600 a 89,280 88,980   4,694,981 4,730,291 4,935,584   1.59 1.89 1.80
Minnesota 67,600 71,930 75,230   2,781,744 2,822,297 2,932,961   2.43 2.55 2.56
Mississippi 8,770 8,510 9,290   1,234,167 1,218,664 1,314,444   0.71 0.70 0.71
Missouri 56,460 61,120 61,000   2,821,802 2,885,857 3,012,126   2.00 2.12 2.03
Montana 4,500 a 5,790 5,170   456,624 478,162 506,159   0.99 1.21 1.02
Nebraska 15,890 a 20,030 20,410   940,047 945,270 995,635   1.69 2.12 2.05
Nevada 11,540 12,940 12,880   1,134,550 1,240,868 1,373,462   1.02 1.04 0.94
New Hampshire 13,180 16,390 16,780   693,648 711,512 738,858   1.90 2.30 2.27
New Jersey 114,370 116,290 121,690   4,177,841 4,309,021 4,496,727   2.74 2.70 2.71
New Mexico 9,720 a 11,060 11,490   850,164 895,623 959,458   1.14 1.23 1.20
New York 170,140 188,620 200,900   8,810,155 9,072,733 9,679,617   1.93 2.08 2.08
North Carolina 77,240 80,150 81,630   4,028,598 4,250,619 4,543,754   1.92 1.89 1.80
North Dakota 4,250 4,650 3,140   338,221 346,359 369,671   1.26 1.34 0.85
Ohio 93,300 99,960 111,160   5,507,404 5,609,056 5,971,874   1.69 1.78 1.86
Oklahoma 21,600 a 26,200 27,600   1,608,849 1,650,877 1,748,416   1.34 1.59 1.58
Oregon 29,120 a 33,960 34,980   1,722,058 1,796,165 1,957,953   1.69 1.89 1.79
Pennsylvania 102,590 110,090 115,300   5,889,957 6,009,858 6,394,884   1.74 1.83 1.80
Rhode Island 7,150 a 9,490 9,940   531,121 547,618 567,597   1.35 1.73 1.75
South Carolina 20,730 23,070 25,130   1,900,122 1,988,378 2,152,965   1.09 1.16 1.17
South Dakota 5,090 5,160 5,860   409,263 417,100 444,890   1.24 1.24 1.32
Tennessee 36,870 36,570 38,490   2,733,793 2,835,530 3,041,276   1.35 1.29 1.27
Texas 209,360 224,330 245,730   10,456,224 10,921,673 11,701,585   2.00 2.05 2.10
Utah 25,340 30,060 30,750   1,169,163 1,272,801 1,383,743   2.17 2.36 2.22
Vermont 5,810 5,920 5,610   337,709 348,026 355,432   1.72 1.70 1.58
Virginia 151,810 169,830 171,440   3,704,593 3,878,988 4,124,766   4.10 4.38 4.16
Washington 83,480 80,140 101,030   3,008,352 3,160,350 3,476,766   2.77 2.54 2.91
West Virginia 7,230 7,250 6,900   744,034 767,134 806,152   0.97 0.95 0.86
Wisconsin 46,380 46,400 42,860   2,871,034 2,918,155 3,084,130   1.62 1.59 1.39
Wyoming 1,750 2,040 1,980   263,705 275,617 292,606   0.66 0.74 0.68
                       
Puerto Rico 7,380 9,050 8,750   1,226,251 1,260,703 1,366,307   0.60 0.72 0.64
 

na = not applicable

EPSCoR = Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research

aValue may be underreported because one or more codes for computer occupations suppressed by state or Bureau of Labor Statistics and not reported at state level.

NOTES: Workforce represents employed component of civilian labor force and reported as annual data not seasonally adjusted. All 2008 workforce data with the exception of Puerto Rico reflect revised population controls and model reestimation. For explanation of EPSCoR and non-EPSCoR averages, see chapter introduction.

SOURCES: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates; and Local Area Unemployment Statistics.

Science and Engineering Indicators 2010
Source Data
 

Science and Engineering Indicators 2010   Arlington, VA (NSB 10-01) | January 2010