Life sciences in a post-Covid-19 transition in the US

After a surge of activity during the Covid-19 years, growth in life science-related industries has slowed considerably and we expect job gains to lag in the coming years as the market corrects. Across the top 10 life sciences metros, we project job growth of 4% from 2025–29; this compares to a rate of 15% from 2020–24. Still, some metros are better positioned to navigate changes in the industry than others.

What you will learn:

• Developments in life sciences will disproportionally affect the US metros with established R&D clusters, namely Boston, San Francisco, New York, Washington, San Diego, and Philadelphia. These six metros accounted for 40% of scientific R&D employment in 2024. Within these, suburban counties comprise a significant proportion of scientific R&D jobs and patents; and these emerging, more cost-effective locales are becoming increasingly appealing to biotech firms.
• The most substantial change for life sciences since Covid-19 has been the decline in demand for laboratory facilities. Oversupply, falling rents, and increased vacancy rates have forced R&D developers to consolidate their footprint in certain metros, while scaling back in others. For some metros, over a quarter of lab space is vacant as fewer jobs are created to fill the space.
• Funding availability is also a key variable for life sciences, as federal funds fell in 2024 for the first time in over 10 years. Future funding cuts would affect the growth potential across metros in the life sciences sector. Despite this, traditional clusters such as Boston and San Francisco are still forecast to dominate, while smaller markets such as Salt Lake City, Madison (WI), Minneapolis, and Raleigh show promise.