Charlotte among the best cities for women in STEM, new study says. Here’s why
Charlotte is among the best cities in the South and the nation as a whole for women working in STEM fields, a new study says.
The city was named the 14th best city in the country for women with jobs in science, technology, engineering, and math and the fourth best city in the South region.
The study by CommercialCafe, looked at “highly relevant factors” in 123 U.S. cities, “including indicators tracking local STEM employment and the representation of women within it, as well as the levels and evolution of income for women relative to the overall sector in the local economy,” per the group.
Charlotte was ranked ahead of five other North Carolina cities included in the study: Durham, Greensboro, Raleigh, Winston-Salem, and Fayetteville. It was the only North Carolina city to place in the top 20 nationally.
The city got high marks for its “total of 14,324 female STEM workers,” good for the “largest number of women working in STEM among the 48 Southern U.S. cities” in the rankings.
“The STEM sector in Charlotte saw a 10.5 percentage point increase in the share of women STEM workers, from 2017 through 2021 — the largest percentage point increase in representation, among the top 10-scoring Southern U.S. cities we compared,” CommercialCafe said.
New York City was named the best city overall for women in STEM fields in the study. Charlotte finished behind Arlington, Virginia; Washington, D.C.; and Austin, Texas in the regional rankings.
