Does the government employ most of the nation’s scientists and engineers?
In 2017, government accounted for 10.6% of the country’s science and engineering jobs, according to data from the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics. Nearly 5% of scientists and engineers were employed by the federal government and nearly 6% were employed at the state or local level.
The business sector is the largest employer of these professionals, employing 71.2% of more than 27 million U.S. scientists and engineers. The education sector is the second-largest job provider, employing 18%. (Universities rely on federal support for about 60% of their own research funding, so some jobs in the education sector depend indirectly on the government.)
Private industry’s share increased compared with 2013, when it accounted for 61.6% of total jobs, while government’s share declined from 12.2%.
