Nearly 190,000 people are employed in
a life sciences occupation in Southern
California. The industry has been
growing at a steady pace with about
10,000 new professionals added to
payrolls over the last 5 years.
Biotechnology and Biomedical have
been considered the darlings of the
industry, driving growth in San Diego
and Orange County. Life science
companies such as Illumina and
NuVasive have been expanding their
footprint in the San Diego market, and
will be adding more jobs to the
market. In Orange County, companies
such as Vyaire Medical, Ambry
Genetics, and Apria Healthcare are
attracting other life science businesses
who want to be located in this growing
cluster.
Highly talented life science
professionals are calling Southern
California home due to the significant
number of employment opportunities.
Southern California recorded 12.7
percent growth since 2011 of the
number of life science establishments.
Tenant requirements for life sciences
total more than 1.5 million square feet
in San Diego, 600,000 square feet in
Orange County, and 250,000 square
feet in Los Angeles, indicating
sustained growth in this sector over
the coming years.
Employees in med-tech occupations
200,000
180,000
160,000
140,000
120,000
100,000
80,000
60,000
40,000
20,000
2011
2016
Source: JLL Research, BLS
Med-tech firms by the numbers
5,000
4,000
3,000
2,000
1,000
0
2011
Source: JLL Research, BLS
2016