The innovative biopharmaceutical industry has long been a significant driver of the nation’s economic growth and a key contributor to state and regional economies. A new report from TEConomy Partners highlights industry’s impact and reach across the country.
While the industry is a driver for the national U.S. economy, research shows that biopharmaceutical companies and their supply chains play key roles in supporting local economies and a wide range of jobs in every state across the country. In fact, nearly every state is involved in the manufacturing of FDA-approved medicines, and the biopharmaceutical industry directly employed more than 900,000 workers across the United States in 2020.
Source: TEConomy Partners data, calculations and analysis.
The report shows that industry actions in the pursuit and production of ground-breaking medical discoveries also have important benefits for state economies and workforces, including:
- Driving economic impact from the industry in every state, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
- In each of ten states — California, New Jersey, Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Texas, Florida, Indiana — and Puerto Rico, the biopharmaceutical industry supports economic output of more than $50 billion. In each of 45 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico the industry supports more than $1 billion in economic output.
- California benefits from the largest economic impact, with the biopharmaceutical industry supporting more than $230 billion in economic output.
- Supporting nearly 4.5 million American jobs and operating more than 1,500 facilities in 47 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
- Five states — California, New Jersey, Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania — each have more than 50,000 biopharmaceutical industry workers, with each of those industry jobs supporting three or four additional jobs per state. The industry has significant employment in 18 additional states and Puerto Rico, with more than 10,000 industry workers each, with six more states having between 5,000 and 10,000 industry jobs.
- Generating more than $76 billion in federal, state and local personal tax revenue — including more than $10 billion in state and local personal tax revenues and over $66 billion in federal personal tax revenues in 2020.
- Providing STEM-related employment (i.e., science, technology, engineering, and math), representing 36% of the jobs in the sector, more than five times the average private sector share. These jobs are found across the range of education levels.
- Providing average worker compensation of $145,000, well over twice the national average across all industries, and 70% higher than the average manufacturing industry job.
Source: U.S. IMPLAN Model and TEConomy estimations of 2020 Employment and Total Labor Income.
To learn more about economic impact in your state, visit our state map and read the full report.
