STEM Occupation Share · Illinois

## What this measures

The share of wage and salary jobs in Illinois that are in three groups of occupations: computer and mathematical (SOC 15), architecture and engineering (SOC 17) and life, physical and social science (SOC 19). From the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for May of each year. Annual, in percent, dated January 1 of the survey year.

## Why it matters

It is a simple gauge of how much of a state's workforce does technical work: software, engineering, research, data. States with higher shares tend to attract more research spending, patents and high-wage employers, and the share changes slowly enough to say something about a state's long-run direction.

## How to read it

Percent of all jobs. The U.S. figure has been around 6% to 7% in recent years. Compare states within a year, or a state's own trend over several years.

## What it does not say

It is defined by occupation, not industry: a software developer at a bank counts, a receptionist at a tech company does not. It leaves out healthcare practitioners, teachers of STEM subjects and technicians classed elsewhere. Occupation codes were revised in 2010 and 2018, which moves a few jobs between groups. Small states' group estimates carry wide error, and BLS sometimes withholds one, leaving that year blank.

## Source

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), state estimates: employment (TOT_EMP) in SOC major groups 15-0000, 17-0000 and 19-0000 and in all occupations (00-0000), from the yearly state file oesm<yy>st.zip. A work of the U.S. Government (17 U.S.C. §105), public domain. The share is a Palanor calculation; each point keeps the group and total employment in its metadata.