Connecticut is Nation’s Fourth Most Innovative State, Data Reveals

Connecticut is ranked as the nation’s fourth most innovative state, in a new analysis from Bloomberg Technology. The state’s ranking was based on factors including education, professionals in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields, state research and development spending, and technology companies.

The state’s overall score in the analysis, 76.45, is just behind top-ranked Washington’s 83.25, California’s 81.97 and Massachusetts’ 80.93. States were ranked on a scale of zero to 100 in six factors, and received an overall score that was an average of the six. Because productivity consisted of two sub-factors, each was weighted 50%.

Connecticut’s ranking was based on the following factors: states of innovation

STEM professionals as a percentage of state population: 2.72% (CT ranked #7)
Science and tech degree holders as a percentage of state population: 10.2% (CT ranked #6)
Utility patents granted as a percentage of U.S. total: 1.74% (CT ranked #17)
State government R&D spending as a percentage of U.S. total: 2.79% (CT ranked #8)
Gross state product per employed person: $114,891 (CT ranked #5)
Three-year change in productivity: 0.88% (CT ranked #32)
Public tech companies as a percentage of all public companies based in the state: 17.65% (CT ranked #17)

Sources of the data include Bloomberg, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Science Foundation, U.S. Census, and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The analysis was updated in November 2013, and the rankings were published this month.

The remainder of the top 20 innovative states were:

5. Oregon 6. New York 7. New Jersey 8. Colorado 9. Maryland 10. Minnesota bloomberg technology 11. Virginia 12. Texas 13. Utah 14. Arizona 15. North Carolina 16. Illinois 17. Pennsylvania 18. Kansas 19. New Hampshire 20. D.C.