WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressman Jamie Raskin (MD-08) today announced that Maryland’s 8th Congressional District is one of the top performers in the Information Technology Industry Council’s (ITI) new report on high-tech communities across America. The 8th District has the highest proportion of science and engineering jobs out of all congressional districts in the United States and ranks second in the nation for total science and engineering workers in the high-skilled workforce.
The 8th District is home to 13,895 science and engineering workers, compared to 2,494 workers in a median congressional district and 4,673 workers in economically similar districts. While science and engineering workers comprise less than 1% of the median congressional district’s skilled workforce, 4.57% of the 8th District’s skilled workforce are science and engineering workers.
“It’s an honor to represent Maryland’s 8th District, which is home to so many diverse, talented, and innovative minds,” said Rep. Raskin. “Maintaining robust federal funding for R&D and nurturing a dynamic STEM workforce are goals critical to keeping us at the forefront of innovation and competitiveness. As our global competitors invest in their workforces, we should ambitiously build on our efforts to help more female and minority students pursue their passions in STEM careers. I am committed to working with our startups, businesses, universities, and state and local leaders to continue growing high-tech jobs in Maryland.”
The report details the 8th District’s outstanding performance, including:
- 52,472 STEM workers, which is three times the median U.S. district
- 29,747 total computer and math workers, which is three and a half times the median U.S. district
- 58,346 high-tech workers, which is nearly two and a half times the median U.S. district
- $2.08 billion in public R&D funding, which is in the 96th percentile among U.S. districts
Click here to view a one-pager highlighting the 8th District’s metrics. Click here to view the full report.
The report draws from nearly two dozen economic indicators to paint a statistical portrait of the nation’s high-tech sectors and the role they play in the broader economy, including high-tech goods and services, technology-driven innovation, and the skilled workers who drive it all. The report demonstrates just how geographically diffuse the country’s innovation-driven, high-tech economy is, and makes clear that technological innovation plays an outsized role in powering the whole U.S. economy.
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