The ranking of the top 25 life sciences research talent clusters in the first quarter pegs the Bay Area at No. 3, New York-New Jersey at No. 4 and San Diego at No. 5.

The D.C. area earned its position near the top because it’s a larger metropolitan area with more universities and industry players, giving it an “abundant talent pool for life sciences companies,” the report said. That was also the case for markets such as Los Angeles (No. 7), Philadelphia (No. 8) and Chicago (No. 10). The bottom of the top 25 includes Portland, Oregon; Miami; Nashville, Tennessee; Albany, New York; and Pittsburgh.

The study also found that the life sciences ecosystems “more broadly thrive” in regions that house more people who hold doctorate degrees. To that end, Greater Washington has an advantage as the search for talent becomes tougher in life sciences, which in April claimed the second-lowest unemployment rate at 0.6%, according to CBRE’s report. At the same time, the D.C. region may also be seen by competing markets as a recruitment source, given its higher cost of living.

The region’s labor force counts more than 5.1 million people, of which 15.4% work in professional, scientific and technical services, and 12.2% hold roles in health care services, according to CBRE data.

The D.C. area’s life sciences community has seen substantial growth and attention through the pandemic as local companies jumped into the health crisis response. The pandemic generally boosted funding and support for manufacturing, research and development for vaccines, therapies and testing. And that directly benefited multiple resident companies working in and around Covid-19.

But the CBRE report also notes that people moving from major cities to some smaller pockets of the U.S. during the pandemic in 2020 “may have disproportionately, and temporarily, dampened the growth of such key markets,” including the Washington-Baltimore corridor.

Still, we’ve seen relentless activity from the region’s companies, particularly in Montgomery County’s talent-rich and saturated Interstate 270 corridor. Gaithersburg’s Novavax Inc. (NASDAQ: NVAX) led the pack as a vital player in the global effort to bring a Covid vaccine to market — and, after a long road, received emergency use authorization for the product Wednesday, making it the fourth to do so in the U.S.

The D.C. area has also attracted more biotech and life sciences firms to put down roots, with the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration as obvious baked-in draws to the nation’s capital. The local contingent of companies continues to see approvals, funding, sales and public debuts. Lab space has also become a more reliable niche of the region’s otherwise uncertain real estate landscape.