Where the STEM Jobs Are

Texas is the land of opportunity for science, technology and math nerds

Young scientists have a bright future in Dallas and other Texas cities.

Photo courtesy of Akitv I Oslo.no Flickr

Math and science nerds may not have been the most popular in high school, but their passions are paying off. According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the annual mean wage for a science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) job is almost $80,000 — nearly 71 percent higher than the national annual average wage across all occupations and industries.

So where are these STEM graduates finding jobs? In Texas, of course.

According to a new survey from fellow nerds at Nerdwallet.com, Austin, Houston and Dallas are among the top places in the nation for science and technology job seekers. To determine the rankings, the number crunchers looked at annual mean wage for STEM occupations, median gross rent and STEM occupations as a percentage of all jobs in 75 metro areas across the country.

Houston ranked No. 4 on the list, while Austin landed at No. 6. Dallas fell just outside the top 10 at No. 11. Although our fair city clocked in lower than its Lone Star State counterparts, Dallas did best Austin in two out of three categories: salary and rent.

In Austin, STEM grads can expect to make about $79,433, and rent costs $978 a month. Meanwhile in Dallas, the mean salary is $81, 215 and pay just $877 a month for rent. Houston has the best of both worlds with a mean STEM salary of $94,766 and average rent of $873.

It's harder to find a STEM job in the Bayou City, however, as they make up just 7 percent of all occupations. Dallas fares slightly better at 7.5 percent, while Austin offers the most chances for tech employment with 9.8 percent of all jobs classified as STEM.

The only state better than Texas for STEM graduates is California, which had four cities in the top 20: San Jose (No. 1), San Francisco (No. 5), Sacramento (No. 15) and San Diego (No. 20).

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Self-driving Roller Coaster

More self-driving cars expected to roll out in Austin for 2025

Photo courtesy of Waymo via KVUE

Various brands offering self-driving cars are on-and-off in Austin.

Expect to see more self-driving rideshare vehicles, also known as robotaxis, on Austin roads next year.

Robotaxi company Waymo, which you may have already seen on Austin's roads, is partnering with Uber. At some point next year, customers will be able to use the Uber app to call a self-driving ride.

Austin-based company Avride is in the testing phase and plans to roll out its robotaxis next year.

Currently, Volkswagen ADMT and Amazon's Zoox are in the testing phase in Austin, while Hyundai's Motional is in the mapping phase.

Last year, robotaxi company Cruise paused operations in Austin after the California Department of Motor Vehicles revoked the company's permits to operate driverless vehicles in the state. And last week, General Motors said it would no longer fund the company because of the time and resources needed.

This way of getting around has come with its safety concerns and issues. The city is tracking those concerns. According to the Transportation Department, the problems span from blocking the roads and parking in front of people's homes for weeks with lights beaming through their windows, to actual wrecks.

Since July 2023, robotaxis have been involved in 75 incidents. Only 21 of those incidents happened in 2024. It's important to note that Cruise has not been operating in Austin this year.

Since July 2023, driverless rideshare vehicles have been involved in 22 near collisions, eight collisions and seven instances where driverless taxis ignored directions from the Austin Police Department (APD).

According to the data, at least four of those Austin police incidents happened in recent months. The issues varied from driving through police checkpoints, to malfunctioning and getting stuck at an APD road closure near pedestrians, causing safety concerns.

A Waymo spokesperson said their vehicles have gesture recognition capabilities, which they've been training APD officers on using.

As the report shows, sometimes it does not work and Waymo said it is working to improve that. The spokesperson said that as of just last week, Waymo's First Responder Program has been independently verified by TÜV SÜD, making Waymo the first autonomous vehicle (AV) company to receive third-party validation for our emergency response protocols. They also said the data to date indicates the Waymo Driver is already reducing traffic injuries and fatalities in the places where the company currently operates.

Read the full story and watch the video at KVUE.com.

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