Useful Stats: Business R&D Performance, by State (2010-2013)

U.S. companies continue to emphasize innovation, as private performance of R&D increased for the fourth consecutive year, according to recently released data from the National Science Foundation. In total, U.S. businesses performed 6.7 percent more R&D in 2013 than in 2012, according to the data, and nearly 19 percent more R&D from 2010 to 2013.  Combined, the top 10 states performed approximately two-thirds (65.3 percent) of all private research and development in the United States, led by California, whose $89.4 billion in corporate R&D performance accounted for 27.7 percent of the national total.

The update of the Business R&D and Innovation Survey (BRDIS) comes from the National Science Foundation's (NSF's) National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics. The data is a primary source of information on business domestic and global research and development expenditures.

In 2013, the states where businesses performed the most R&D were California ($89.4 billion), Massachusetts ($17.4 billion), Michigan ($15.9 billion), Texas ($15.6 billion), and Washington ($14.8 billion). On the other end of the spectrum, businesses in 2013 performed the least amount of R&D in Wyoming ($28 million), Alaska ($46 million), Montana ($92 million), South Dakota ($164 million), and Mississippi ($211 million).

Many of the states with the lowest levels of business R&D performance in 2013 on a dollar basis also saw percentage decreases from 2010 to 2013. Overall, 13 states saw their businesses decrease expenditures on R&D from 2010 to 2013, led by Alaska (37.8 percent decrease), Montana (36.6 percent decrease), Wyoming (28.2 percent decrease), Nevada (26 percent decrease), and South Carolina (22.8 percent decrease).   Expenditures on R&D at private businesses from 2010 to 2013 increased the most in Washington, D.C. (107.7 percent), Maine (45.4 percent), Kentucky (43.9 percent), Utah (42.5 percent), and North Carolina (40.6 percent).

Geographically, business R&D expenditures tended to grow faster in some regions than others. As can be seen in the map below, growth in business R&D expenditures was generally slower in the deep South and the Northern Plains regions. Growth tended to be higher in regions such as the Great lakes, West Coast, and the Northeast. 

SSTI has assembled the data on business R&D expenditures from 2010 to 2013, which is viewable in the chart below and available to download. Next week, the Digest will explore how private R&D intensity – as measured by business R&D expenditures as a share of Gross State Product – changed from 2010 to 2013.

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