A worker is seen at Titomic USA on June 2, 2025, in Huntsville-Limestone County, on opening day of Titomic’s new U.S. headquarters. Photo courtesy LCEDA

The Huntsville metro area, including Limestone County, is once again finding itself near the top of an industry watcher’s ranked list of the best places for working professionals. 

In a new tally of the nation’s best places to work in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) field, the Huntsville metro area — which includes both Limestone and Madison counties — comes in at No. 4 among metros in its size category for an appealing blend of affordability, highly educated workforce, and a vast array of high-tech employment options. 

Published by real estate technology provider CoworkingCafe, the ranking’s methodology measures and compares a number of variables among metro areas throughout the U.S., including the number of available STEM jobs, the number of STEM employers, wages and cost of living, and overall quality of life. 

Coming in fourth on the list of midsize metros, the Huntsville metro area, the report’s summary states, offers “the highest share of jobs in science-driven fields,” reflected by the area’s high proportion of high-tech opportunities as part of the overall job market. 

“Here, more than 23% of jobs are in STEM departments, and professionals interested in landing these jobs can explore one of more than 400 establishments specializing in different technical fields,” the reports notes. “That includes academic institutions like the University of Alabama in Huntsville, as well as companies like BAE Systems, Bragg Peak Systems and Cubic.”

With average annual earnings in tech careers almost on par with the U.S. average ($94,000 per year in Huntsville compared to $96,00 per year nationwide), dollars earned in Madison and Limestone counties stretch farther for those employed in STEM fields. “[P]rices in Huntsville are almost 6% more affordable than the national average,” the summary observes, “making products and services more accessible.”

Durham, North Carolina topped the list of mid-sized metro areas in the rankings, followed by Madison, Wisconsin; Omaha, Nebraska; and the Huntsville metro area at No. 4. It’s the area’s second high ranking in less than a month among market watchers’ rankings of attractive U.S. places: In June, Limestone and Madison counties also landed in the No. 4 spot on a similar list of mid-sized metro areas for Millennials to live and work.