2019 Innovation Rankings By State

The United States is usually accredited as one of the most innovative nations in the world. However, that does not mean the country’s technological and innovation quests are divided equally around the nation.

Burgeoning technology and innovative concepts usually find their inception in major regions such as San Francisco and New York, while middle tier states in the nation try to play catch-up.

With the United States predicted to spend approximately $581 billion on Research and Development (R&D) in 2019, and New York City recently no longer under consideration for Amazon’s 2nd headquarters, finance and research website WalletHub recently published an enumeration ranking the 50 U.S. States and District of Columbia in terms of innovation rate.

It came as no surprise that the least innovative states on the list included the Midwest states, usually ignored by leading tech firms in favor of metropolitan areas that have historically enticed top tech talent and major tech firms.

In order to come up with the rankings, Wallet Hub based its findings on multiple metrics divided into two different categories: innovation environment and human capital.

The human capital category includes units such as projected STEM job demand in 2020, the share of STEM professionals, and participation and performance in high school level science and math exams.

The innovation environment category, on the other hand, included each state’s tax-friendliness, number of jobs in new companies, level of research and development spending, and every state’s share of firms that are tech oriented.

Below are the most and least innovative states in the U.S. according to WalletHub:

Most innovative states

  1. Massachusetts
  2. Maryland
  3. Washington
  4. District of Columbia
  5. California
  6. Colorado
  7. Virginia
  8. Utah
  9. Delaware
  10. Oregon

Least innovative states

  1. Oklahoma
  2. Nebraska
  3. Hawaii
  4. Kentucky
  5. Iowa
  6. Tennessee
  7. Arkansas
  8. West Virginia
  9. Louisiana
  10. Mississippi
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