had 13 patents per 1,000 workers, more than double the national average of 6.4 patents per 1,000. In 2009, Forbes ranked the county 18th out of 100 MSAs and first out of 8 metros in Florida for affordable housing and short commute times, among others. In August 2009, Florida Trend rated two Brevard companies, Harris Corporation and Health First Health Plans, in their rankings of the best places to work in Florida. In May 2009, the Palm Bay-Melbourne area was ranked as the No. 8 tech center in the United States by Bizjournals. It overcame its low number of total high-tech companies and jobs by having a high number of jobs per high tech company (#4) and high tech jobs compared to total private-sector jobs (#2). Forbes magazine ranked Melbourne 2nd out of 150 metropolitan areas in the US, for the percentage of the population that are engineers, 6.6%, just ahead of Silicon Valley. It reached a maximum employment of 254,514 in 2006. In 2006, Forbes magazine named Harris Corporation, headquartered in Brevard, to its "Platinum 400" List. The Technological Research and Development Authority, based on the Space Coast, delivers technologies to schools and small businesses throughout the state of Florida. They obtain this information through strategic alliances with NASA, the federal government, the aerospace industry and state partners. They also sponsor a business incubator at the Melbourne Airport. The largest hotel in Brevard has 284 rooms and of meeting space. Labor There were 168,500 private sector jobs in the county in 2009. The Bureau of Labor Statistics counted the following workers in Brevard along with average annual pay ($): Retail 25,900 ($23,361) Manufacturing 21,700 ($65,521) Local government 20,100 ($42,517) Hospitality 19,600 ($15,857). The largest local employer is Brevard Public Schools with 9,500 of whom 5,000 are teachers. Brevard County Teachers are represented by the Brevard Federation of Teachers (AFT). The county had an unemployment rate of 12.7% in January 2010, a 20-year record high. In March 2010, there were 33,500 people out of work. The county experienced a record low unemployment in 2005 of 2.8%. There were 32,608 people unemployed in the county in January 2011. In 2009, there were 6,400 federal workers, total, employed in the county. They earned an average of $74,600. In 2009, average annual salaries in the county for engineers was $90,563; registered nurses $53,315; education $49,441; police officers $43,035; cooks $21,569; and cashiers $19,489.