San Francisco

San Francisco leads the pack when it comes to offering the best opportunities for a career in big data, according to the report.Photo Credit: Digon3

Located in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, McLean  took second place on the list due to its array of commercial- and government-related data center operations.Photo Credit: BenjPHolm

New England’s largest city placed third in the rankings due to the large number of banking, biology and pharmaceutical industries located within the city.

Following in fourth place on the list of big data cities was the Gateway City, home to a variety of research universities.Photo Credit: Daniel Schwen

Rounding out the top five was the only Canadian city on the list, Toronto, where risk-averse financial institutions require business intelligence (BI) solutions. Photo Credit: Chris McPhee

Companies in these sectors typically run large analytics on their customers in how they use their services and products.Photo Credit: BrokenSphere

Database and data management positions for government integrators are in demand in the Washington, D.C., metro area, including McLean.Photo Credit: 123net

In Boston, banking, biology and pharmaceutical industries, which are looking for analysis and reports of large amounts of data that are detailed and complex in nature, drive big data job opportunities.

Research-based institutions like the universities found in St. Louis drive demand in data analyst or scientist roles.

Risk-averse financial institutions require BI solutions to help determine a company’s operating costs, customer habits, spending habits and patterns, and liabilities.