Marvel at DC

The unemployment rate in the Washington, DC area is about 3.9%, which is significantly lower than the US average of about 4.4%. MaryJo Fitzgerald, a trends analyst for the career website Glassdoor, notes the high cost of living in the nation’s capital, but says there are unique opportunities there for research and advancement. ‘Washington, DC is home to chemistry and STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] jobs at leading research universities, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies and government agencies,’ she says. ‘And the overall number of open jobs in the nation’s capital is up 12.7% year on year – so chances of getting hired are good.’