If you want a career in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, you have probably been cautioned that academia, awash in Federal money promoting STEM careers, can maybe employ 15 percent of the PhDs in science they graduate.

The private sector still accounts for most of the basic research, almost all of the applied research, and certainly all of the technology, and they want you.

But just because it is a digital world does not mean you get to live where you are and wait for offers to roll in. Computer programming is a deliverable, people work from a spec, so that works fine remotely, but most creative STEM fields benefit from the kind of commonplace social interaction that means you will need to be in an office or lab - so you should pick the best area to live if you are skilled enough you don't have to take any job you can get.

Silicon Valley remains the top employer for STEM but San Jose is rather built up and industrial by now. You'd probably rather live in Honolulu. That's fine, but the housing is going to be a lot higher and wage will be lower than in North Carolina.

What is the best trade-off? Wallethub has done the research and written it up and the number one place for a STEM career overall is... Houston, Texas. Coming in second is Austin. If you know anything at all about business, you know why Texas wins. They don't kill you or your company with taxes, and you won't be paying 50% more for utilities and gas due to hidden taxes than the rest of the country, like you will in California.

Click a city on the map and you can see how it does:

They used 11 metrics, things like job openings and percentage of workers (that tells you that you can find another job if you need to - something not possible if you work in a town with one tech company), unemployment rate, affordable housing, and family atmosphere. 

Housing costs put Honolulu last, for example, you are overpaying for weather, whereas Winston-Salem, Wichita and Pittsburgh are all really good values for STEM workers if you don't mind having four seasons and a snow shovel. You will make the highest salary in New York City but you are not going to be able to afford to live there alone. Adjusted for cost of living, Houston offers the best way to do more than pay rent.

Here are the best and worst in one easy chart:

	Best Metro Areas for STEM Professionals			Worst Metro Areas for STEM Professionals
	1	Houston, TX		91	Lakeland, FL
	2	Austin, TX		T-92	El Paso, TX
	3	Raleigh, NC		T-92	Stockton, CA
	4	Denver, CO		94	Cape Coral, FL
	5	Omaha, NE		95	Deltona, FL
	6	Seattle, WA		96	Oxnard, CA
	7	Oklahoma City, OK		97	Fresno, CA
	8	Salt Lake City, UT		98	North Port, FL
	9	Columbus, OH		99	Riverside, CA
	10	Cincinnati, OH		100	Miami, FL