The U.S. Semiconductor Talent Pipeline Is Geographically Misaligned

The bounded education frame uses nine CIP 2020 fields spanning computer hardware, electrical engineering, materials and chemical engineering, physics and chemistry, and two technician pathways. It keeps certificates, associate, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral awards separate. These are possible education pathways; the data do not identify graduates who entered semiconductor jobs.

Across the 50 states and DC, included awards fell from 97,970 to a provisional 89,798. Bachelor’s awards lost share while master’s and doctoral awards gained share. California remained the largest state total, but Illinois, Indiana, Virginia, Rhode Island, DC, and Vermont moved against the national decline. The last two periods remain provisional, and territories are separate.

The available QCEW state history covers 2025 Q1 through Q4, not 2019 onward. A consistent 45-state panel declined 0.73%, even as 22 states grew. Five jurisdictions had protected employment values and Wyoming had no matching record; none was treated as zero. NAICS 3344 includes semiconductors and other electronic components, not the full semiconductor ecosystem.

Nine detailed, non-overlapping occupations show very different profiles. Computer Hardware Engineers have the highest median wage. Industrial Engineers have the most annual openings. Semiconductor Processing Technicians have 10.9% projected growth but much thinner state coverage. Every occupation total spans multiple industries, and openings include replacement needs.

The education and industry footprints do not line up neatly

The selected education fields produced fewer awards in 2024–25 than in 2019–20, while private electronic-component manufacturing remained concentrated in a different mix of states. California and Texas are large on both measures. Oregon, Idaho, New Mexico, and New Hampshire have above-median industry employment but below-median education output. Georgia, Alabama, Maryland, and Tennessee show the reverse pattern.

That is a geographic scale comparison, not a labor-market balance test. The education data cover broad fields, the industry data cover all workers in private NAICS 3344 establishments, and neither source follows graduates into jobs.

Education output fell 8.3% and shifted toward graduate credentials

The frame includes nine CIP 2020 fields: computer engineering, computer hardware engineering, electrical and electronics engineering, chemical engineering, materials engineering, general chemistry, general physics, electrical/electronic engineering technology, and manufacturing engineering technology. It counts first-major awards in five bands: subbaccalaureate certificates, associate degrees, bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees, and doctorates.

Across the frame, output fell by 8,172 awards, or 8.3%. Bachelor’s degrees fell from 63.3% to 58.4% of included awards. Master’s degrees rose from 19.0% to 21.7%, and doctorates rose from 8.9% to 10.1%. Materials-and-chemical bachelor’s awards had the largest absolute decline, down 3,699. Technician certificates recovered after 2022–23, but the technician total remained below 2019–20.

The first four award periods use revised releases. The final two remain provisional. Territories are reported separately and do not enter the 50-state-plus-DC totals.

The available industry history covers 2025 only

The current state snapshot contains 2025 Q1 through Q4 for private NAICS 3344, Semiconductor and Other Electronic Component Manufacturing. It does not support a state trend beginning in 2019. A consistent panel of 45 states moved from 383,214 third-month jobs in Q1 to 380,421 in Q4, a decline of 2,793 jobs, or 0.73%.

California led observed Q4 employment with 85,504 jobs, followed by Texas with 50,150, Oregon with 26,423, Arizona with 22,936, and Florida with 17,362. Twenty-two states increased while the panel declined. California gained 772 jobs; Oregon lost 2,779.

Five jurisdictions—Alaska, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Louisiana, and North Dakota—had protected employment values. Wyoming had no matching record. Those six jurisdictions are not treated as zero. Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands remain outside the main comparison.

State scale varies sharply across the two measures

Among 45 matched states, the median was 1,232 selected-field awards, 3,646 observed industry jobs, and 328.3 awards per 1,000 observed jobs. The middle half ran from 194.3 to 745.7 awards per 1,000 jobs.

• High education and high industry: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.
• High education and lower industry: Alabama, Georgia, Maryland, and Tennessee.
• Lower education and high industry: Idaho, New Hampshire, New Mexico, and Oregon.
• Lower education and lower industry: Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, and West Virginia.

Missouri equals the education median and Indiana equals the industry median, so both enter the higher group.

California and Texas lead both raw measures but have low normalized values because their industry employment is so large. Oregon has the lowest ratio. West Virginia has the highest—2,674.6—but only 126 observed industry jobs. Requiring at least 1,000 industry jobs removes West Virginia and six other small-denominator states from the ten highest ratios. This sensitivity check is why the ratio should never be read as adequacy, shortage, or graduate placement.

Occupations add context, not another ratio

Nine non-overlapping detailed occupations cover chip and hardware design, electrical and electronic engineering, industrial and materials engineering, engineering support, automated equipment support, and wafer fabrication. These estimates span all industries; they do not identify how many workers are employed in semiconductor manufacturing.

Computer Hardware Engineers have the highest median wage. Industrial Engineers have the most annual openings and slightly higher projected growth than Semiconductor Processing Technicians. Openings include growth and replacement needs; they are not a count of newly created jobs. State coverage is thinnest for Semiconductor Processing Technicians, so comparisons involving that occupation require extra caution.

Periods, coverage, and evidence boundaries

Together, these records show that selected education output, covered industry employment, and occupation outlooks differ across states and credentials. They do not establish worker supply, employer demand, educational adequacy, shortages, graduate placement, migration, or causal relationships.