Texas is the 15th most-innovative state, according to a WalletHub ranking of innovation that compares all the states and the District of Columbia.
WalletHub, a personal finance website, said its analysts compared the 50 states and D.C. across 18 key innovation-friendly indicators.
The District of Columbia, Maryland, and Massachusetts, in that order, grabbed the top three spots. The least innovative states were Louisiana, Mississippi, and West Virginia.
Texas received a 44.01 on the state innovative index, compared to 70.87 for first-ranked Washington, D.C. Texas had a human capital rank of 10 and an innovation environment rank of 20.
WALLETHUB GRADED ON A 100-POINT SCALE IN 18 METRICS
WalletHub evaluated 18 relevant metrics in human capital and innovation environment. It graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the most favorable conditions for innovation. Then WalletHub calculated a state innovation index based on a weighted average across all metrics. Those resulting scores were used to come up with the final ranking.
Under human capital, it looks at six metrics, including the state’s share of STEM professionals, the share of science and engineering college graduates, and eight-grade math and science performance. To gauge the innovation environment, it looked at 12 metrics, including the share of technology companies and R&D spending per capita.
Texas received one of its highest scores under the metric of projected STEM job demand by 2020 — 14th. It received one of its lowest rankings for average Internet speed at 26th overall.
The United States was expected to spend $514 billion on research and development in 2016, the most projected for any country, and the third year of consecutive increases, according to a 2016 global R&D funding forecast from the Industrial Research Institute in R&D Magazine.
Last year, the United States ranked fourth globally for overall innovation. Switzerland was No. 1.
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