Busy financial district in Boston. Blurry lights of fast cars on a busy road surrounded by tall buildings.
Boston. Image: f11photo/Shutterstock

Want to know what the hottest jobs in Boston are?

12 Sep 2018

Boston has a vibrant sci-tech ecosystem that is bursting with opportunities, but where do most of those opportunities lie?

Throughout the month of September, we’re examining Boston’s sci-tech ecosystem.

From the vast number of universities in the area to its incredible cluster of life sciences and cybersecurity companies, the opportunities for those who want to work in the world of sci-tech are increasing all the time.

We’ve already mentioned some of the bigger companies that have announced jobs in recent months, including 400 jobs in Accenture, 300 jobs for a new Bristol-Myers Squibb R&D centre and a whopping 2,000 hires for Amazon.

But what are the most in-demand jobs in Boston and which ones are growing the fastest?

We already know that infosec, biotech and blockchain are massive areas in Boston, and so it’s no surprise that jobs that relate to these fields are high up on the list.

According to data from Indeed, software engineering roles topped the list of hottest jobs in Boston by a considerable amount. In fact, both software engineer and senior software engineer postings increased by more than 20pc compared to 2017 job postings.

Looking back at those major Boston industries, it’s also no surprise that health-related jobs are next on the list. Medical assistants are next in demand after software engineers, though demand has fallen by about 8pc compared to last year. However, mental health technician is next on the list, with an increase in demand of almost 16pc. This increase has put the role ahead of full-stack developers in Boston.

When it comes to salaries in these fields, a software engineer is looking at an average salary of somewhere between $120,000 and $131,000. Though mental health technician roles are becoming more in demand, the salary for the role is at an average of $33,000. In stark contrast, someone applying for a job as a software architect, which also made the list of hottest jobs in Boston according to Indeed’s statistics, could claim a salary as high as $156,000.

Up-and-coming jobs in Boston

While postings for the hottest jobs mentioned above are in the thousands, there are some extremely fast-growing roles that are up and coming in Boston.

For example, the demand for a technical associate has increased more than 125pc from last year. Meanwhile, demand for both senior helpdesk analysts and technology leads have increased by about 80pc compared to 2017.

Interestingly, tech software has one of the biggest market shares of job postings in Boston, according to Indeed, making up 5.27pc of the job postings in the area. This is 2.35pc higher than tech software’s market share in US as a whole, so there is a clear concentration in the Boston region.

Whether you’re looking for a job in life sciences, cybersecurity or tech software, Boston is overflowing with opportunities in those areas. However, the city has plenty more than that to offer, so anyone who wants to work in the sci-tech industry will not need to look far.

Jenny Darmody
By Jenny Darmody

Jenny Darmody became the editor of Silicon Republic in 2023, having worked as the deputy editor since February 2020. When she’s not writing about the science and tech industry, she’s writing short stories and attempting novels. She continuously buys more books than she can read in a lifetime and pretty stationery is her kryptonite. She also believes seagulls to be the root of all evil and her baking is the stuff of legends.

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