There is no standard definition of a “geek.” However, the U.S. National Science Foundation has created a compelling taxonomy of American geeks for gathering the data it includes in its annual “Science and Engineering Indicators” report.
The most recent version of that report defines “geeks” as any workers with a bachelor’s level of knowledge and education in science or engineering-related fields or workers in occupations that require some degree of technical knowledge or training.
In the “Science and Engineering Indicators 2010,” the NSF ranked the top 20 cities in the United States by percentage of workers in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics occupation.
Based on the NSF’s criteria, it turns out that the densest concentrations of geeks in U.S. cities is not necessarily where you would expect, with one big exception.
Here is the list in ascending order:
1. San Jose, CA
2. Boulder, CO
5. Durham, NC
6. Lowell, MA
7. Washington, D.C.
8. Ithaca, NY
9. Bethesda, MD
10. Seattle-Bellevue, WA
11. Kennewick-Pasco, WA
12. Austin-Round Rock, TX
13. Ames, IA
14. Palm Bay-Titusville, FL
15. Boston, MA
16. Ann Arbor, MI
18. Olympia, WA
19. San Francisco, CA
20. Fort Walton Beach, FL
And here is the list in descending order with a few more details:
Fort Walton Beach-Crestview-Destin, FL
8.8% of workforce
7,200 workers employed
San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, CA (Metro Division)
9.7% of workforce
96,170 workers employed
Olympia, WA
10.1% of workforce
9,700 workers employed
Bloomington-Normal, IL
10.1% of workforce
8,680 workers employed
Ann Arbor, MI
10.3% of workforce
20,250 workers employed
Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH (NECTA Division)
10.3% of workforce
174,180 workers employed
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL
10.7% of workforce
21,800 workers employed
Ames, IA
10.7% of workforce
4,480 workers employed
Austin-Round Rock, TX
11% of workforce
82,100 workers employed
Kennewick-Richland-Pasco, WA
11.2% of workforce
9,700 workers employed
Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA (Metro Division)
11.8% of workforce
167,060 workers employed
Bethesda-Gaithersburg-Frederick, MD (Metro Division)
12% of workforce
68,340 workers employed
Ithaca, NY
12.5% of workforce
6,270 workers employed
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV (Metro Division)
12.7% of workforce
290,700 workers employed
Lowell-Billerica-Chelmsford, MA-NH (NECTA Division)
14.1% of workforce
16,580 workers employed
Durham, NC
15.5% of workforce
41,560 workers employed
Huntsville, AL
16.2% of workforce
32,630 workers employed
Framingham, MA (NECTA Division)
16.6% of workforce
25,940 workers employed
Boulder, CO
17.4% of workforce
28,010 workers employed
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
18.2% of workforce
165,400 workers employed
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