Denver ranked in the top 15 regions for bioscience growth, employment and lab space, according to the 2016 JLL Life Sciences Report.

The Denver metro ranked 13th in the nation. The top five included Greater Boston, the Bay area, Raleigh-Durham, San Diego and Seattle-Bellevue.

The report ranks the markets based on employment in life sciences, employment growth, venture capital funding and National Institutes of Health funding, among other metrics.

“Across the board, nearly all sectors of the life sciences industry are growing in Denver,” the report reads, calling out pharmaceuticals in particular.

Denver ranked so highly due to its skilled workforce, the many education and research facilities and the large concentration of lab space. About 71 percent of the Denver metro’s total lab space is located in Boulder and the northwest suburbs. They are considered one of the top two life sciences clusters in the region, second only to CU-Anschutz Medical Campus and Fitzsimmons Life Science District.

The report also noted that Jefferson County is beginning to be a hub for biotech companies, due to its proximity to Boulder, Broomfield and Denver. And Longmont and Gunbarrel could provide low-cost alternatives to companies looking to maintain access to the Boulder workforce, the Denver Business Journal reported.

Here are the rankings, plus a score determined by the above metrics:

1. Greater Boston, 87.5
2. San Francisco Bay area, 75.2
3. Raleigh-Durham, 60.7
4. San Diego, 58.3
5. Seattle-Bellevue, 56.3
6. Maryland/suburbs of D.C., 53.2
7. Philadelphia, 49.4
8. Los Angeles/Orange County, 44.7
9. Westchester County, N.Y., 41.2
10. New Jersey, 40.8
11. New York City, 34.7
12. Minneapolis, 34.5
13. Denver, 34.5
14. Chicago, 30.7
15. Central and southern Florida, 30.6
16. Long Island, N.Y., 30

Multimedia business & healthcare reporter Chloe Aiello can be reached via email at caiello@denverite.com or twitter.com/chlobo_ilo.

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