Useful Stats: Federal Commitments to R&D By State, 2002-12

Federal investment in research and development appears to be falling far short of the ambitious goals set by Presidents Bush and Obama in the early part of the century. Though federal R&D spending grew by 22.5 percent from fiscal years 2002 to 2012, commitments declined substantially in 2011-12, following the spike in funding through the Recovery Act. By 2012, R&D expenditures were at their lowest levels since 2004.

Data on federal obligations for research and development come from the Survey of Federal Funds for Research and Development, an annual survey conducted by the National Science Foundation (NSF). All federal agencies are asked annually to report obligations or outlays incurred or expected to be incurred, and then also to report R&D funding, with 27 agencies responding. Typically, agency R&D programs are not identified by budget line items and R&D or R&D plant activities (funds used for facilities or equipment) are identified within broader programs. As a result, the accuracy of this data depends on how well respondents from federal agencies meet survey requirements.

SSTI has collected the data from 2002 to 2012 to better highlight trends in federal R&D spending throughout the decade. Data from FY11 represent completed transactions, while the most recent data available, FY12, are estimates of congressional appropriation actions, appointment and reprogramming decisions.

In 2012, federal agencies committed $117.3 billion to research and development activities across the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Comparatively, in 2011 states received $132.2 billion, and in 2010 and 2009, the years with ARRA funding, states received $144.3 and $133.8 billion respectively. The top seven states were the same in 2011 as they were in 2012; California received the most with $18.1 billion, followed by Maryland, Virginia, Massachusetts, Texas, Alabama, and New York.

Between 2011 and 2012, federal commitments to research and development activities declined 11.3 percent. Just 14 states received more from the federal government for R&D in 2012 than they did in 2011. Wyoming, which received the second smallest amount of funding from federal agencies for research and development, had more than a 100 percent increase between 2011 and 2012. Other states such as Maine (36 percent), Kentucky (28 percent), and New Hampshire (21 percent) also saw considerable growth in federal commitments to research and development from 2011 to 2012. The states where federal commitments to R&D decreased the most from 2011 to 2012 were Louisiana, where they received 49 percent less, Utah (45 percent), and Washington (44 percent).

Between 2007 and 2012, federal commitments to research and development activities declined 11.3 percent. Overall, 25 states received more funding for research and development activities from federal agencies in 2012 than in 2007. In 2012, Alabama received 120 percent more in funds for R&D than they did in 2007. Wyoming experienced similar growth as they did over the one-year period, receiving just over 100 percent more in funding for R&D in 2012 than they did in 2007. Oklahoma (80 percent) and Idaho (65 percent) also received a significant more amount in 2012 than they did in 2007. Montana received 71 percent less in R&D funding from federal sources in 2012 than they did in 2007, while Washington and Florida both received 42 percent less over the five-year period.

Just 15 states received less funding for R&D from federal agencies in 2012 than they did in 2002, and as a whole, R&D commitments increased 23 percent over the 10-year period. Three states – Utah (109 percent), Colorado (109 percent), and Maryland (108 percent) – received more than twice as much in 2012 as they did in 2002. Alaska received 72 percent less in 2012 than they did in 2002, while Georgia (47 percent), Louisiana (33 percent), and Vermont (24 percent) also saw sizable reductions in their R&D commitments over the 10-year period.

Since 2002, R&D plant expenditures make up less than 3 percent of the total R&D commitments from federal agencies. Between 2002 and 2008, the proportion of R&D expenditures committed to R&D plant activities decreased steadily from a high of 4.5 percent in 2002 to a low of 1.5 percent in 2008. In 2009, as a result of ARRA funding, this proportion increased 79 percent to 2.7 percent, followed by another increase of 70 percent to 4.5 percent in 2010. The percentage of R&D expenditures from federal agencies committed to R&D plant activities decreased noticeably in 2011 (3.1 percent) and 2012 (1.8 percent), and currently sits at its lowest level since 2008.

The total amount of funding from federal agencies that states received for R&D activities from 2002 to 2012 can be found in the table below. Additionally, SSTI has made the data available for download, including breakdowns of R&D and R&D Plant activities and of ARRA funding in 2010 and 2009.

Total Private and Federal Research & Development Commitments by State, 2002-2012 ($, Thousands)

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