PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island ranked as the No. 23 most innovative state in a report issued by WalletHub Wednesday.
The report, which weighed 22 metrics, was sorted by two categories, the “innovation environment” rank, the “human capital” rank.
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Massachusetts, which ranked No. 1 overall, led the list for human capital and was No. 2 for innovation environment. New Hampshire ranked No. 12 overall, while Connecticut was No. 13. Following Rhode Island in New England were Vermont, at No. 32, and Maine, at No. 40. Mississippi ranked last on the list.
Rhode Island ranked No. 16 in the nation for its human capital metrics, which includes the state’s share of STEM professionals, science and engineering graduates, and student performance in the STEM fields.
Wallethub ranked Rhode Island as No. 23 in the nation for projected STEM-job demand by 2020. The Ocean State was ranked No. 27 in the nation for its share of STEM professionals at 5.7 percent and No. 24 in the United States for its share of science and engineering and related fields graduates at 43.1 percent.
The study also weighed younger student performance. Rhode Island ranked No. 33 in the nation for eighth-grade math and science performance and No. 33 in the nation for AP exam participation.
Rhode Island ranked its highest for scientific knowledge output, part of the study’s human capital metrics, at No. 2 in the nation, second only to Massachusetts. The output performance ranking measures the number of peer-reviewed articles published per 1,000 science, engineering and health doctorate holders. Rhode Island also ranked well for average internet speed, a innovation environment ranking, with the fourth fastest average speed in the country. However, these were the only two metrics in the study that the Ocean State ranked in the top 10 in the nation.
The Ocean State ranked less well for its innovation environment rank, at No. 33 in the nation. The innovation environment included a state’s technology and engineering economies output, research and development spending, tax friendliness, entrepreneurial activity and industry cluster strength.
Rhode Island’s third-highest ranking was for research and development intensity at No. 15 in the nation, which measured the ratio of total research and development performed to state gross domestic product.
The Ocean State earned its lowest score from WalletHub for its industry-cluster strength, at No. 48 in the nation. The metric measured the level of high employment specialization in an area.
Rhode Island earned its second-lowest rank for its entrepreneurial activity at No. 47. The metric was based on the Kauffman Index of Startup Activity.
Rhode Island ranked in the bottom 10 states for the following categories:
- Business churn (No. 41)
- Tax friendliness (No. 41)
- Net migration per 1,000 residents (No. 42)
- Entrepreneurial activity (No. 47)
- Industry-cluster strength (No. 48)
Chris Bergenheim is the PBN web editor.
