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Useful Stats: State Rankings of Industrial R&D Intensity, 1997-1999

April 12, 2002
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Industrial R&D intensity — measured by the ratio of industry R&D to Gross State Product (GSP) — can be a useful S&T indicator, because it indicates the level of private sector R&D activity and standardizes the data to eliminate geographic, demographic, historical, and natural resource differences among the states. 



With the recent release of the National Science Foundation's Survey of Industrial Research and Development: 1999, SSTI has constructed a table presenting the data and state rankings for industrial R&D intensity for 1997-1999, the three latest years available. 



The top five states for each year and their scores are: 

1997

1998

1999

Michigan (4.65) Delaware (7.30) Michigan (5.75) Idaho (4.02) Massachusetts (4.40) Rhode Island (3.88) Washington (3.77) Michigan (4.34) Delaware (3.64) Massachusetts (3.71) Rhode Island (4.33) Idaho (3.56) New Jersey (3.69) Washington (3.90) Massachusetts (3.55) US Average (1.92) US Average (1.92) US Average (1.96)

Industrial R&D statistics on the state level can fluctuate sharply across years while the national average holds relatively level, and the impact on individual state rankings can be dramatic. For example, Arizona's rank jumped from 24 in 1998 to 8 in 1999, as industrial R&D expenditures grew from $1.727 billion to $4.434 billion. After seeing a near tripling of industrial R&D between 1998 and 1999, Vermont's intensity ranking rose from 34 to 16. The District of Columbia's ranking conversely fell from 29 to 44 between 1998 and 1999. 



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Virginia