U.S. R&D Expenditures by State and Performer: 2009-10

While New Mexico continues to lead the country in R&D intensity, California remains at the top in R&D expenditures, according to new National Science Foundation (NSF) data from 2009 and 2010. The new report provides updated, detailed statistical tables on current and historical patterns (1953 to 2010) of U.S. research and development (R&D) expenditures by performing sector, source of funds, character of work and state. NSF's National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) released the data to provide a statistical supplement to their January 2013 InfoBrief on the National Patterns findings for 2010–11. The report provides updated, yearly data from 1953 to 2010 due to new NSF methodologies for obtaining and compiling R&D statistics and includes 2011 estimated data.

SSTI has prepared tables showing the overall R&D expenditures (in millions of dollars) by state in 2009-10 and by the three primary performers of R&D in the U.S. (federal, business and university) for all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The table also provides R&D intensity, an index for R&D spending that takes total R&D spending as a percentage of gross state product (GSP), and R&D intensity rankings for those states and the District of Columbia. R&D expenditure data was collected from several NSF-funded national surveys of the organizations that engage in R&D. Download the tables in Excel format to get access to all of the data.

In 2009, the top five states for R&D expenditures were bolstered by intense private sector R&D spending, including California ($64.9 billion in private sector R&D), Massachusetts ($14.4 billion), New Jersey ($18.4 billion), Texas ($15.3 billion) and Washington ($16.5 billion). Maryland, driven by almost $10 billion in R&D research performed by federal entities in 2010, moved from sixth in 2009 to fourth in 2010 — surpassing New Jersey and Washington. From 2009 to 2010, Missouri more than doubled its R&D expenditures from $4.4 billion in 2009 to $9.3 billion in 2010 (jumping from 24 to 13 in the state rankings). Missouri's rapid ascent was due to a reported 145.1 percent increase in private sector R&D spending. However, the data presented does not provide enough detail to draw reasonable conclusions on such a dramatic increase in R&D spending.

According to the data, New Mexico had the highest percentage of R&D intensity in both 2009 (8 percent) and 2010 (8.07 percent). In 2009, Maryland (6 percent), Washington (6 percent), Massachusetts (6 percent) and Connecticut (5 percent) joined New Mexico to comprise the top five states in R&D intensity as a percentage of GSP. In 2010, after a drop of approximately 1.5 percent, Connecticut fell to 12th with an R&D intensity of 3.54 percent. California moved up from sixth in 2009 to join New Mexico, Maryland (6.28 percent), Massachusetts (5.34 percent) and Washington (4.91 percent) in the top five.

Mirroring the doubling of its R&D expenditures, Missouri saw a significant increase in R&D intensity as a percentage of GSP. The state's R&D intensity more than doubled from approximately 2 percent to almost 4 percent — a jump from 29th in 2009 to seventh in 2010. New Hampshire also saw approximately a 1.5 percent growth in R&D intensity (moving from 25 to 10). Similar to Missouri, New Hampshire's significant jump can be attributed an additional $949 million (78.4 percent increase) in R&D expenditures in 2010. Other states that saw an upward change in ranking of R&D intensity from 2009 to 2010 include Florida (seven spots from 44 to 37), Illinois (eight spots from 26 to 18) and Rhode Island (six spots from 20 to 14).