Census: Florida has among lowest rates of science, engineering workers in nation

About 1 in 5 Florida workers are in science and engineering or related fields, placing the Sunshine State near the bottom of the list of states whose workforce is made up of STEM jobs.

New figures released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau show that almost 9 percent of Florida workers between ages 25 and 64 worked in science, technology, engineering and math jobs, also known as STEM jobs. Another 12 percent were in related fields, like architecture or health care management.

Florida had more than 450,000 workers in STEM or STEM-related jobs.

Only four other states had lower rates of workers in science and technology or related fields than Florida.

State officials in recent years have made efforts to bring high-tech science businesses to Palm Beach County and Orlando.