With the U.S. spending over $600 billion per year on R&D, the personal-finance website WalletHub recently released its report on 2023’s Most & Least Innovative States, as well as expert commentary.
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 22 key metrics. The data set ranges from share of STEM professionals to R&D spending per capita.
| Most Innovative States | Least Innovative States |
| 1. District of Columbia | 42. Kentucky |
| 2. Massachusetts | 43. Iowa |
| 3. Washington | 44. Nebraska |
| 4. Maryland | 45. South Dakota |
| 5. California | 46. Oklahoma |
| 6. Colorado | 47. Arkansas |
| 7. Virginia | 48. West Virginia |
| 8. Delaware | 49. North Dakota |
| 9. New Hampshire | 50. Louisiana |
| 10. New Jersey | 51. Mississippi |
Key Stats
- The District of Columbia has the highest share of STEM professionals, 11.49 percent, which is 3.4 times higher than in Mississippi, which is the lowest at 3.34 percent.
- The District of Columbia has the highest share of technology companies than any other state at 8.41 percent. This number is 3.2 times higher than in South Dakota, which has the lowest at 2.62 percent.
- New Mexico has the highest research and development (R&D) intensity according to the research, at 7.47 percent, which is a significant 12.2 times higher than in Louisiana, the lowest at 0.61 percent.
To view the full report and your state or the District’s rank, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/most-innovative-states/31890
