Fastest Growing STEM Jobs That Pay Over $100,000
Some of the highest paying careers are also experiencing the fastest growth. Recent data shows that jobs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, are expected to grow by 15% between 2021 and 2031.
While tens of thousands of workers have been laid off this year, STEM industry professions remain in high demand. STEM-related jobs are expected to increase by nearly 800,000 by 2031; more than half of them are expected to be math and computing professions, according to a recent SmartAsset study.
The growth of the US STEM industry is primarily attributed to the country’s growing IT industry. Computer science occupations are expected to be in demand over the next decade due to the growth of America’s digital economy, according to a US Department of Labor report called Beyond the Numbers.
In a society that grows and is increasingly dependent on digital technologies, from online shopping and social media platforms to artificial intelligence, robotics and machine learning, the risk of electronic breaches is on the rise. . A greater need to protect electronic data calls for more IT and STEM-related professions.
SmartAsset analyzed historic job growth from 2017 to 2021 and projected job growth from 2021 to 2031 to identify and rank the nation’s fastest growing STEM occupations. The study compared data from 74 professions.
Information security jobs topped the list of fastest growing STEM jobs for the second year in a row. STEM jobs globally represent 5.9% of the fastest growing occupations in the United States.
Among the fastest growing STEM occupations, here are seven that pay more than $100,000, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics:
physicists
Median salary: $152,430
Growth rate 2017-2021: 19.8%
Projected growth rate 2021-2031: 8.2%
Evolution of the number of jobs 2017-2021: 3,310
Projected evolution of the number of jobs 2021-2031: 1,900
Computer and information researchers
Median salary: $131,490
Growth rate 2017-2021: 10.5%
Projected growth rate 2021-2031: 21.3%
Evolution of the number of jobs 2017-2021: 2,920
Projected evolution of the number of jobs 2021-2031: 7,100
Computer hardware engineers
Median salary: $128,170
Rate of growth 2017-2021: 10.5%
Projected growth rate 2021-2031: 4.8%
Evolution of the number of jobs 2017-2021: 6,980
Projected evolution of the number of jobs 2021-2031: 3,700
IT network architects
Median salary: $120,520
Growth rate 2017-2021: 7.0%
Projected growth rate 2021-2031: 4.3%
Evolution of the number of jobs 2017-2021: 11,000
Projected evolution of the number of jobs 2021-2031: 7,500
Actuaries
Median salary: $105,900
Growth rate 2017-2021: 19.9%
Projected growth rate 2021-2031: 20.8%
Evolution of the number of jobs 2017-2021: 3,830
Projected evolution of the number of jobs 2021-2031: 5,900
Information Security Analysts
Median salary: $102,600
Growth rate 2017-2021: 49.4%
Projected growth rate 2021-2031: 34.7%
Evolution of the number of jobs 2017-2021: 51,970
Projected evolution of the number of jobs 2021-2031: 56,500
Biochemists, biophysicists
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