Best West Coast cities for jobs with security clearance in defense and intelligence.

1. Best West Coast Cities for Defense
By Tranette Ledford and ClearanceJobs
Average Security-Cleared Earnings
Location Salary
California $98,968
Source: 2010 ClearanceJobs Compensation Survey
“San Diego definitely holds
opportunities for security-cleared
Los Angeles, CA
personnel in non-uniform positions
The gold rush isn’t really over in California. New businesses and job at our military installations, as well
seekers continue to head west to live along the Pacific Coast. But the as within business and government
state’s sunny climate and mix of ocean views, mountains and deserts is agencies tied to defense activities.”
only part of the draw. The defense job market also looks good – and to —Jo Marie Diamond
recruiters in this industry, so do security-cleared professionals. Operations Director, DEFCOMM
A study released by the California Space Authority in April 2009, shows
California leading the nation and the world in space-related economic
contributions. According to the organization’s executive director, Andrea
Seastrand, California accounts for 44 percent of the nation’s space market, 21
percent of the global market, and contributes more than $76 billion in total
economic impact. Job seekers may be just as interested in the fact that the
state’s partnership with the military serves as the bedrock of California’s space
industry, which has led to more than 370,000 jobs.
The wealth of opportunities runs wide for security-cleared job seekers. Three
of the 10 NASA centers are based in California, and the state’s public and
private universities have heavy concentrations of engineering and research
personnel, as they frequently partner with the Department of Defense and
the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. With 2010 earnings totaling
$98,968, California-based security-cleared professionals top the list as the
highest-earning geography, according to the ClearanceJobs 2010 Compensation
Survey. Up and down the coastline, high-paying opportunities abound.
San Diego
Boasting the largest concentration of military activity in the nation, San Diego
is home to Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, which alone, brings in
more than $1 billion in salaries and contracts. North Island Naval Complex and

2. Naval Station San Diego are also on the area’s military installation map, all of
which work to lengthen the list of employers looking for transitioning service
members with three distinctive assets – their service, their skills, and most of
all, their security clearances.
Key Opportunities in San Diego
Throughout San Diego, the aerospace industry is thriving, with major
• Aerospace
employers that include Goodrich Aerostructures, SAIC and General Atomics
Aeronautical Systems. Manufacturing opportunities continue to proliferate • Ship Building
in ship building, satellite communications systems, electronics, robotics,
• Satellite Communications
propulsion systems and computers designed for use by the military. To fill the
demand for workers, Computer Sciences Corporation, Northrop Grumman, • Electronics
Wallach, Boeing, Raytheon, Hewlett Packard and Epsilon Systems all actively • Robotics
recruit from the pool of security-cleared candidates.
• Propulsion Systems
According to Jo Marie Diamond, Operations Director for DEFCOMM, a defense • Military Computing
and space technology consortium, “San Diego definitely holds opportunities for
security-cleared personnel in non-uniform positions at our military installations,
as well as within business and government agencies tied to defense activities in
aerospace, technology, manufacturing, production and management.”
While the big story for security-cleared job seekers may be the employment
“Cleared, transitioning service
opportunities, the city has been in the spotlight more for its troubled housing members may want to look at
market. San Diego was ground zero for the disastrous subprime mortgages that
opportunities in Redondo Beach
resulted in a massive drop in home prices and foreclosures. Even as recently as
January through June of 2009, there were more than 30,000 foreclosures. But and Palmdale, home to Plan 42,
there are whispers of recovery and housing prices have started to inch back which houses Boeing and Lockheed
up. Currently, listing prices are running between $275,000 and $300,000, way
below their numbers a few years ago. Other perks? San Diego has a low crime
Martin’s advanced research
rate and according to a report by Northwestern National Life, it ranks in the development facilities.”
top three cities in America for quality and cost of health care.
—Jack Kyser
Founding Economist, Kyser Center for Economic Research
Los Angeles
Los Angeles doesn’t have the wealth of military installations that San Diego
boasts, but it does host Los Angeles Air Force Base, home of Space and Missile
Systems Center, along with Edwards Air Force Base and NASA’s Dryden Research
Center nearby. The relationship between private sector businesses and the
defense community continues to offer a diverse collection of job opportunities
in the defense and aerospace industries.
City, county and federal government agencies continue to rank at the top of
the list of Los Angeles’ largest employers, and those that deal with network
administration and security and homeland security often look for security-
cleared personnel. Other private-sector companies like Boeing and Northrop
Grumman also remain on the list of L.A.’s biggest employers and actively seek
out candidates with a clearance. Northrop Grumman’s recent decision to move
its headquarters to Washington, D.C. may see some jobs leaving the area, but
the company is continuing to hire in the region.
According to the Aerospace Industries Association, opportunities for security-
cleared personnel look good for 2010. Boeing, for example, the world’s largest
aerospace company and a major contributor to the area’s aerospace industry,
provides jobs for more than 15,000 workers in Los Angeles County and an
additional 14,000 throughout the state.

3. Sitting on the perimeter of Los Angeles, the small city of El Segundo is a Key Opportunities in Los Angeles
hotbed of defense activity. The five-square-mile community is dubbed the
Aerospace Capital of the World, home to major defense employers like
Computer Sciences Corporation, Raytheon, Douglas Aircraft, Hughes Aircraft,
• Research and Development
Boeing and Northrop Grumman. Other nearby communities are also emerging • Aircraft and Aerospace Engineering
as hubs for defense jobs requiring a clearance.
• Program and Logistics Management
“Cleared, transitioning service members may want to look at opportunities • Systems and Software Engineering
in Redondo Beach and Palmdale, home to Plant 42, which houses Boeing and
Lockheed Martin’s advanced research development facilities,” said Jack Kyser,
Founding Economist, Kyser Center for Economic Research. “These communities
in and around Los Angeles focus on defense research, aerospace and related
technologies.”
Opportunities that require a security clearance include positions in research
and development, aircraft and aerospace engineering, program and logistics
management and systems and software engineering.
In its forecast for 2010, the Los Angeles County Economic Development
Corporation anticipates an increase in federal purchases due to the wars in
Afghanistan and Iraq. This will positively affect companies doing business in
defense-related manufacturing and technology, particularly those related to
satellite technology.
Los Angeles, CA
Despite some of the downturns elsewhere in the state’s business community,
the lure of a security clearance hasn’t lost its draw. According to Evan Lesser,
founder and director of ClearanceJobs.com, Los Angeles and neighboring towns
like El Segundo to the south, and Azusa to the north, are hotbeds of activity
for cleared aerospace professionals. “Known defense giants like Northrop
Grumman have had a long-term established presence in Azusa. Most of the
open jobs are for security-cleared systems engineers, but support staff roles
always follow close behind. Heading down to El Segundo, Raytheon dominates
and we see regular clearance jobs for everything from logistics professionals,
finance analysts, QA leads, and network administrators. There’s always
demand.”

4. Los Angeles frequently gets low marks for its air quality and housing prices
Highest Cleared Earnings By
that hover close to $400,000. But on the up side, there are still good deals to
be found throughout the L.A. suburbs, along with miles of beaches, sea side Job Category Nationwide
resorts, hiking trails, parks and architectural landmarks. Known most as the ’10 Earnings
nation’s entertainment capitol, Los Angeles still casts a heavy spotlight on job Program, Project Manager – $125,784
opportunities for cleared personnel, particularly those with technical skills and Engineering
a military background. ★ ★ ★ IT Databases – Admin, Architect, $118,482
or Data
IT Program/Project Management $111,642
IT Software Programming $106,766
Telecommunications Engineering $105,139
Electrical Engineering $104,982
Aerospace/Aviation Engineering $103,733
Program/Project Manager $103,444
IT Network/Systems Security $99,158
Intelligence Analyst, Linguist, or $90,222
Interrogator
Human Resources Generalist/ $87,311
Recruiter
IT Hardware – Admin, Architect, $85,994
or Support
IT – Testing/QA $85,733
IT – Telecommunications $85,661
Logistics – Supply, Procurement, $85,545
Acquisition
Law Enforcement $76,626
Facility/Personnel Security $68,289
Administrative – Clerical or $65,612
Secretarial
Source: 2010 ClearanceJobs Compensation Survey
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