With the U.S. projected to spend $581 billion on research and development in 2019 and New York City recently backing out of the deal for Amazon’s HQ2, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2019’s Most & Least Innovative States as well as accompanying videos.
In order to give credit to the states that have contributed the most to America’s innovative success, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 24 key metrics. The data set ranges from share of STEM professionals to R&D spending per capita.
Arizona ranked No. 16 among the Most Innovative States. The state ranked No. 21 for “human capital” and an impressive No. 10 for “innovation environment.
Most Innovative States
1. Massachusetts
2. Washington
3. District of Columbia
4. Maryland
5. Colorado
6. California
7. Virginia
8. Utah
9. Delaware
10. Oregon
Least Innovative States
42. Nebraska
43. South Dakota
44. Kentucky
45. Hawaii
46. North Dakota
47. Tennessee
48. Iowa
49. West Virginia
50. Louisiana
51. Mississippi
Key Stats
• The District of Columbia has the highest share of STEM professionals, 9.80 percent, three times higher than in Mississippi, the lowest at 3.30 percent.
• The District of Columbia has the highest share of technology companies, 8.40 percent, 3.2 times higher than in South Dakota, the lowest at 2.60 percent.
• New Mexico has the highest research and development (R&D) intensity, 6.52 percent, 16.3 times higher than in Nevada, the lowest at 0.40 percent.
• Florida has the highest share of public high-school students taking advanced-placement (AP) exams, 51.91 percent, 3.9 times higher than in North Dakota, the lowest at 13.22 percent.
To view the full report and your state or the District’s rank, visit https://wallethub.com/edu/most-innovative-states/31890/