A new WalletHub report on 2023’s most innovative states has been released and Utah almost made it into the top 10 list.
Here’s what we know.
What are the 2023 top 10 most innovative states?
- Washington, D.C.
- Massachusetts.
- Washington.
- Maryland.
- California.
- Colorado.
- Virginia.
- Delaware.
- New Hampshire.
- New Jersey.
Where does Utah rank? The report ranked Utah No. 11, just barely losing out on a top 10 spot.
The “Innovation Index” of the report showed that New Jersey beat Utah for the No. 10 spot by .25 points.
How was the ranking made? The Innovation Map reported that the 50 states, along with Washington, D.C., were compared “across 22 key metrics.”
The two main dimensions used to compare the states and Washington, D.C., were “Human Capital” and “Innovation Environment.”
WalletHub analyst Jill Gonzalez told the Deseret News, “Some of the metrics used in the analysis include the share of STEM professionals, the share of technology companies, R&D spending per capita and tax friendliness.”
After each state was weighed across all the metrics, the calculated average from these numbers became the total number that earned their ranking on the scale.
What sets D.C. apart? BuiltIn reported that local organizations and the federal government often bring outside talent to the D.C. area and end up keeping college graduates after they receive their degrees, leading investors to embrace spending money in the area.
“The area headquarters the largest share of tech companies in the country and spends a significant amount on research and development — almost $9,000 per capita, representing over 4% of its GDP,” Gonzalez said. “Other factors that attract people and businesses here include the high number of accelerated startups and the large amount of venture capital funding.”
Why was the report made? Gonzalez told the Deseret News that because of the emphasis that the U.S. spends on innovation, it drove the analysts who made this report to figure out which areas of the country are contributing the most.
“The report was prompted by the fact that the U.S. spends over $800 billion per year on research and development, which is not only more than any other country in the world, but also more than a quarter of the world’s total. The country ranks second on the Global Innovation Index, and we wanted to see what are the states that are contributing more to this,” Gonzalez said.