With the U.S. having spent $12 billion on vaccine development and distribution in 2020, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2021’s Most & Least Innovative States.
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. Massachusetts | 42. Iowa |
| 2. District of Columbia | 43. Nevada |
| 3. Washington | 44. Tennessee |
| 4. Maryland | 45. Kentucky |
| 5. Virginia | 46. Nebraska |
| 6. Colorado | 47. Arkansas |
| 7. California | 48. West Virginia |
| 8. Delaware | 49. North Dakota |
| 9. Utah | 50. Louisiana |
| 10. New Hampshire | 51. Mississippi |
Key Stats
- The District of Columbia has the highest share of STEM professionals, 9.80 percent, which is 2.9 times higher than in Mississippi, the lowest at 3.40 percent.
- Virginia has the highest share of technology companies, 7.97 percent, which is 3.1 times higher than in North Dakota, the lowest at 2.56 percent.
- New Mexico has the highest research and development (R&D) intensity, 7.00 percent, which is 15.9 times higher than in Louisiana, the lowest at 0.44 percent.
- Florida has the highest share of public high-school students taking advanced-placement (AP) exams, 51.91 percent, which is 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, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/most-innovative-states/31890
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