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NSF Issues Data Brief on State R&D Growth

August 11, 2000
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Two-thirds of all U.S. research and development (R&D) expenditures in 1997 were concentrated in just ten states according to a July 10, 2000 Data Brief from the National Science Foundation. In contrast the 20 lowest ranking states in R&D expenditures accounted for only four percent of the $199 billion total. 

The top 10 states by total R&D expenditures were: California ($41.7 billion), Michigan ($14.0 B), New York ($12.3 B), New Jersey ($12.1 B), Massachusetts ($11.1 B), Texas ($9.5 B), Pennsylvania ($8.2 B), Illinois ($8.0 B), Washington ($7.5 B), and Maryland ($7.4 B). 

The Data Brief also graphically presents the ten-year trends for state R&D expenditures. With an annual, inflation-adjusted growth rate of 14 percent, New Hampshire experienced the greatest increase in R&D expenditures. Alabama saw the greatest decline at six percent. Real R&D growth for the country as a whole averaged two percent per year over the same period. States with real growth over the three percent threshold for statistical significance were (in alphabetical order): Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, and Washington. 

Also of note are the state rankings by R&D intensity, as measured by R&D expenditures as a percentage of gross state product. The top ten are: New Mexico (6.7 percent), District of Columbia (5.3 percent), Michigan (5.1 percent), Massachusetts (5.0 percent), Maryland (4.8 percent), Washington (4.4 percent), Idaho (4.4 percent), New Jersey (4.1 percent), California (4.0 percent), and Rhode Island (3.7 percent). Nationally the ratio of R&D to gross domestic product was 2.6 percent in 1997. 

Most of the statistics for the Data Brief are taken from the latest edition of the State S&E Profiles. Both reports are available on line at: http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/sepro/start.htm 

Virginia