US bioscience now employs 2.31 million people, but California went backwards

Forty-one states added bioscience jobs between 2021 and 2025. California, the biggest employer of the lot, was not one of them. That is the headline from the latest US bioscience economy report from the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) and the Council of State Bioscience Associations, summarised by BioSpace on 2 November.

The national picture

Direct bioscience employment reached 2.31 million in 2025, 7% higher than in 2021. The number of bioscience businesses grew much faster, up 22% to more than 156,000. More companies sharing a slower-growing pool of people is a useful way to think about why good candidates feel scarce even in a year of layoffs.

Research, testing and medical laboratories are the biggest subsector, with more than 779,000 jobs, about a third of the total. Jobs there rose 8.1% over the four years, and the number of establishments rose 37%.

Where the growth went

Employment grew in 41 states plus Washington, DC and Puerto Rico. The biggest gains in absolute numbers came in Texas, Florida, Massachusetts, Illinois, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio and New Jersey.

Massachusetts grew 10% to 145,864 jobs across 5,934 establishments. Its labs subsector grew 14.6% and pharmaceutical employment 9.7%, both well ahead of the national rates of 8.1% and 5.4%. Pay matches the demand: the average bioscience wage in the state was $219,393, around 115% above the state's private-sector average.

California is still huge, just not growing

California had 334,448 bioscience jobs across 15,719 businesses in 2025, down 1.5% on 2021. Its labs subsector still grew 2.5%, and its concentration of bioscience employment is 25% above the national average. The average bioscience wage there was $185,005, about 90% above the state's private-sector average.

Put simply, California has not lost its place. It has stopped adding to it while other states catch up.

Why talent leaders should care

Location strategy in life sciences has often meant Boston, the Bay Area or San Diego by default. This data says the talent base is spreading. Texas, Florida and Ohio are not where most people picture a biotech hub, yet all three are among the top nine for job growth. That widens the map for site decisions and for sourcing, especially for lab, quality and testing roles, which make up the biggest and fastest-growing chunk of the workforce.

It also says something about pay. When a market like Massachusetts pays bioscience staff more than double the local private-sector average, relocation and remote options become real levers rather than nice-to-haves.